SHARJAH, FEB 19, (DNA) – Islamabad United secured their third victory of the 2017 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as they defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wickets, reported Dunya News.

DR Smith, SW Billings, BJ Haddin, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Rafatullah Mohmand, SR Watson, Shadab Khan, Amad Butt, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Irfan, Rumman Raees

Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, EJG Morgan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, DJG Sammy (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz

Smith and Watson kept their partnership going strong and kept hitting boundaries to keep Islamabad on course to a vital victory. Smith hit Wahab Riaz for two fours in the 16th over whereas Watson hit Junaid Khan for two sixes in the 17th over to go within touching distance of the victory.

Wahab Riaz bowled a good 18th over as he conceded only 4 runs but Smith started the next over by hitting Hassan Ali for a six. Islamabad needed only 8 runs off last 9 balls. They needed 6 runs off the last over but Junaid Khan bowled a tight last over as he conceded 4 runs off 4 balls and Islamabad needed 2 runs off 2 balls.

No more was yet to come as Watson got run out while taking the second run and at the end it came down to one last ball. Amad Butt managed to take a single off the last ball as Islamabad sealed the win.

When things were under Zalmi’s control, Junaid comes into ball the eleventh over and was hot by Smith for six and two boundaries. A total of 14 runs came of Junaid’s over. Shahid Afridi also conceded 9 runs in the next over as Smith hammered one away for four more of the last ball. Shakib Al Hasan provided the crucial breakthrough as he removed the skipper on the second last ball of the thirteenth over. Watson came in as the skipper departs at the crucial stage of the match.

Meanwhile, Smith hammered one away for four more luckily for him as Hasan Ali dropped a golden chance at straight boundary. Watson played a brilliant cut short of the third ball of Shakib’s over for four more. Meawhile Smith also reached to his fifty in the fifteenth over.

Wahab also roared in the sixth over as he bowls by hitting the surface hard with the ball and conceding just two runs in his first over. Smith took the charge in the next over as he lofted one straight over the bowler head for six in an effort to calm the pressure down. In the next over, Smith took the charge once again as he thumped the ball for one more six of Afridi’s bowling. The required run rate soared to 8 runs per over at the end of eighth over.

Billings hits Wahab Riaz for four over extra cover however dragged the ball onto his stumps on the fourth delivery of the over. Islamabad United in deep trouble after Billing departs after scoring 11 runs. Shahid Afridi also bowled really well as he gave away just 3 runs in the 10 over.

Hasan Ali bowled with pace and aggression in the first over as only two runs were conceded in the over. Rafatullah pulled one for six of Junaid’s bowling and a four immediately in order to carry on the innings. However, he was caught by Kamran Akmal of the penultimate ball. On the last ball of the next over, Hasan Ali trapped Haddin plumb in front of the wicket as he departed after scoring just two runs.

The early two wickets put pressure on United at the very outset. Shakib comes into ball in the fourth over as he bowled brilliantly and conceded just 3 runs in the over. Meanwhile, the fierce Hasan Ali continued with his aggressive pace and gave away only three runs in the next over.

Meanwhile, the skipper seemed so hungry to make his mark on PSL 2017 as he scored some really good shots across the wicket. Afridi joins the party as he opened his account while slogging two consecutive sixes in Sami’s over. The skipper departs in the next over as he miss-judged a slow ball from Rumman and was caught at long-on by Muhammad Sami.

Wahab comes in and took on Wahab Riaz in the eighteenth over as he hit a six and three consecutive boundaries in the over. A total of 21 runs were scored of Watson’s over as Peshawar reaches 130 mark in the over. Rumman came up with four consecutive dots in the penultimate over as only two runs were conceded in the over.

Afridi departed on the very first ball of the last over after scoring 17 runs. He was caught by Rumman of the bowling of Sami. Moreover, Wahab was also cleaned up by Sami after he managed to add 23 valuable runs on the board. Only two runs were scored of the last over.

Shakib Al Hasan also departed immediately after the half-way as he was caught by Sami of the bowling of Amad Butt at mid-off. Meanwhile, Morgan carried the innings forward as he rotated the strike and putting away the ball deliveries for boundaries. However, he also fall prey to Shadab khan as he was caught by Muhammad Irfan after scoring 28 runs.

With Boom Boom Afridi came into join the skipper at crease, things were not that good for the Zalmi side as six of their batsmen were back in the pavilion. At the end of 15 overs, both the power hitters were on the crease with 88 runs on the board.

In the sixth over bowled by Rumman Raees, two boundaries were scored each by Kamran and Morgan. As Shadab came into ball in the seventh over, Morgan lofted one for a huge six however; the bowler came back strongly as he trapped Kamran plumb in front of the stump of the last ball. The wicket-keeper batsman departed after scoring adding 19 runs on the board. Sohaib also departs in the very next over without opening his account as he was caught by Sami of his own bowling.

Shakib Al Hasan came in to join Morgan on the crease as Peshawar lost four wicket s in quick succession. The ninth over bowled by Shadab was an expensive one as 15 runs were scored of the over. Watson also bowled a good first over as only four runs were conceded in the tenth over.

Muhammad Irfan and Muhammad Sami started off the proceeding with brilliant bowling as they hit good areas of the surface and provided no width to the Zalmi’s openers in the first two hours. Kamran Akmal took the charge in the third over of the match as he hit straight over Muhammad Irfan’s head for four. In addition, another boundary was scored of the second last ball as a top-edge of Akmal’s bat reached the third man boundary.

Rumman Raees provided the breakthrough in the fourth over of the game as he removed Tamim who was caught by the skipper at mid-on. Muhammad Hafeez opened his account with a whip over the on-side. In the fifth over, Hafeez angles away another one from Irfan for four more however; he throws his wicket away while giving rather an easy catching practice to the skipper.=DNA

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