Hapless Zalmi overwhelmed by Qalandar juggernaut

It took four years of abject failure and last-placed finishes, but at long last in the fifth season of the PSL, Lahore has finally begun to make its mark. The country’s most important city has long been the butt of jokes when it comes to this tournament, as its team has routinely been the most incompetent and hapless side. But now with their fourth win on the trot, the Qalandars are eyeing a spot in the playoffs for the first time.

Peshawar Zalmi became the latest side to be rocked by Lahore, having posted the exact same total as Karachi had a few nights back. The Qalandars had destroyed that target with ease, but while Zalmi made it a lot closer, the result was the same. Lahore won by five wickets in the final over to take themselves to third on the table.

A big part of this run for Lahore has been their absolutely delirious home crowd but also the toss. Sohail Akhtar called correctly yet again, and Lahore had the advantage of chasing yet again, a situation that has been common to their winning run. At first, it looked like Peshawar might not give a competitive total to chase, as they lost three wickets within the powerplay. Tom Banton continued his miserable run as Shaheen Shah Afridi got him in the first over, and then Samit Patel picked up Liam Livingstone and danger man Kamran Akmal in consecutive overs.

It was then that Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali came together to put on a game changing partnership. Malik has been in superb form for Peshawar, and had come in with back to back fifties to his name. He immediately looked at ease with the Lahore pitch, and helped the teenager on the other end settle in as well. Both batters effortlessly moved up the gears, finding boundaries with increasing ease. Haider continued to send Pakistani fans’ pulses racing with his range and command, and when he went past 50 he became the youngest to this milestone in the PSL. Malik also helped himself to 50 and it looked like Zalmi were going to end up with a massive total. Unfortunately for them, both fell within three overs and it left new batters in to try and keep the momentum going. No one quite managed, and Peshawar’s eventual 187/7 immediately felt under par, not least because it was the exact score Lahore had chased down with ease against Karachi.

To be fair, Karachi had looked on top for much of that chase until Ben Dunk decided to eviscerate their bowling. Here, it looked like Lahore wouldn’t even need him to come in. Openers Sohail Akhtar and Fakhar Zaman put on a steady yet well-paced start, and when the captain Sohail fell, Chris Lynn joined Fakhar in both getting to 50 as well as their personal best scores of this event. But much like Peshawar, the two fell in quick succession and suddenly what felt like a foregone conclusion became tense. It became truly nerve-wracking for the raucous home crowd when Ben Dunk’s wicket was one of several to fall, leaving Lahore up against it.

The Barbadian all-rounder Carlos Braithwaite was superb at the death, single-handedly carrying the fight. Zalmi’s captain, Wahab Riaz, had bowled much of his best bowlers upfront in the hopes for early wickets, and it left the side lacking resources at the end. David Wiese smacked a pressure-breaking six off Rahat Ali’s penultimate over, and while Braithwaite kept it close, Wiese found another six to give Lahore the win.

Lahore’s recent run has truly opened up the tournament, and with the last few matches to go the tournament can go any which way, with only Multan having secured qualification. Lahore now need one more win to join them, but the rest of the league will have plenty to say about that still.