PSL 7: Stalwart Shoaib Malik and new acquisition Hussain Talat powered Peshawar Zalmi to chase down a huge 191 and beat Quetta Gladiators by five wickets to win their opening game of PSL 7.
Malik was leading the side in absence of Wahab Riaz and delivered a captain’s knock to help chase off a big target.
Batting first Quetta got off to a perfect start with new openers Will Smeed and Ehsan Ali racking up half centuries on a pitch favouring aggressive batting.
The young Englishman Smeed would score 97 and Ali came up with 73 runs to his name and Quetta aided by poor Zalmi fielding and dropped catches posted an impressive 190 runs on the board.
| Install Our App | DOWNLOAD |
| Join Telegram Channel | JOIN NOW |
| Join Facebook Group | JOIN NOW |
| Subscribe YouTube Channel | SUBSCRIBE |
| Follow On Twitter | FOLLOW |
| Follow On Instagram | FOLLOW |
Usman Qadir was pick of the bowlers for Zalmi, taking two wickets and giving away only 20 runs in four overs.
In reply, Yasir Khan of Zalmi played a exciting cameo scoring 30 off 12 balls to set the stage. But quick wickets by Mohammad Nawaz put brakes on the chase.
But then Shoaib Malik combined with Hussain Talat, who found a new leash of life in this new franchise and scored a blistering 52 off 29 balls to draw the game in Zalmi’s favour.
Shoaib Malik would eventually saw off the game scoring 22 on the penultimate over to ensure Peshawar start on a winning note in PSL 7.
Brief Scores:
Quetta Gladiators 190/4 in 20 overs (Smeed 97, Ali 73; Qadir 2-20)
Peshawar Zalmi 191/5 in 19.4 overs (Talat 52, Malik 48*; Nawaz 3-44)