LAHORE (WS News) Iftikhar Ahmed, playing his first match of the season, starred with ball and bat to help Peshawar Zalmi register their second win. It got too close for their liking but they’ll be glad with these two points. Hyderabad Kingsmen, meanwhile, can’t find a way to win. So near, yet so far. There’s still time for the newcomers to turn their campaign around. That’s it for today. Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for the PSL double-header. For now, goodbye and good night.
Babar Azam | Peshawar Zalmi captain: Didn’t expect it (tight finish). Since they had quite a few lefties, we based our combination on that. And here in Karachi, the pitch behaves differently, it was a bit slow. There was assistance for the spinners and they adjusted well. We gained momentum during the powerplay. Iftikhar finished it but we should have finished it earlier. Back-to-back wickets fell, putting us under pressure. They bowled many dot balls, their bowling was amazing as well. Ifti is an experienced player and he finished well. The fewer mistakes we make, the better it will be for us.
Marnus Labuschagne | Hyderabad Kingsmen captain: That’s a tough one to swallow there. I think we got so close there that it almost felt like it was there and Ifi (Iftikhar Ahmed) played a nice shot in that last over and sort of brought things back to their favour. (On fighting till the end) We tried to use our two time violations so we could keep talking and get our fields right and get the best fielders in the positions and make sure we did all the small things right. So much credit has to go to our two fast bowlers that bowled the last four overs. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but that is an unbelievable finish there to keep us in the game. I’ve sort of said to the boys before, I don’t think we’ve played a full match yet where we’ve put everything together. I think our game against Multan, we got 230. We put it together with the bat. Today, we didn’t put it together with the bat. I think we lost six for two. But once again, KP (Kusal Perera) played an amazing innings and got us into a position and we built a partnership through the middle there. And then we put an unbelievable display of bowling on to almost take a win.
Iftikhar Ahmed | Player of the Match: (On bowling in the powerplay) We planned in the meeting that Bracewell and I would bowl with the new ball. I was mentally prepared for it. We simply followed our plan. This is an international league and you must bowl with maturity. I wanted to use my variations and that’s what brought me success. (On his batting) I’ve been doing this job for almost 15 years and I know what needs to be done. I knew that we needed just one or two boundaries to finish it. In my opinion, if you are a finisher, then this is your role. If you can perform your role properly, you can play for Pakistan or compete in international leagues. My focus is fulfilling my role.
22:35 Local Time, 17:35 GMT, 23:05 IST: Hunain Shah lies flat on the ground, Marnus Labuschagne is absolutely distraught as Hyderabad Kingsmen lose four out of four. It was a spirited bowling performance from them though. Inserted to bat, the Kingsmen could only muster 145. They lost the top four for 34, Perera-Labuschagne forged a 82-run partnership but they collapsed losing their last five wickets for just 9 runs. In reply, Peshawar Zalmi’s Haris came all guns blazing. He was dismissed for 11 but Mendis and Babar scored 22 apiece as PZ scored 56 in the powerplay. It seemed like a comfortable run-chase but the Kingsmen wouldn’t go down without a fight. Saim Ayub picked a couple of wickets, Hassan Khan removed Babar and the Zalmi were put under a lot of pressure. With 23 needed off the last four overs, Mohammad Ali and Hunain Shah bowled exceptionally to bring the equation down to 14 runs off 6 balls. Suddenly, the Kingsmen became the favourites. But Iftikhar Ahmed – who picked a 4-fer with the ball – hit a four and six in the final over as PZ won a last-ball thriller.
