A hat-trick for Akeal Hosein is in vain as Zalmi wins handily

Peshawar Zalmi won the last match with Quetta Gladiotor with an astonishing victory by 76 run at Rawalpindi in the ongoing Pakistan Super League. Despite Akeal Hosein’s hat-trick Quetta remained unable to contain Peshawar from advancing to playoffs. Saim Ayub won the player of the match title. He scored 30 off 12 at the top of the order and then returned 2-20 with the ball.  Their victory in the last match guaranteed their spot in the playoffs.

Ayub and Babar Azam (53 off 30) got Peshawar to a flier when they started batting in the Pakistan Super League fixture.  Both set them up for a powerplay score of 70/1. After 12 overs, they were 135/4, and 220+ looked possible. But they lost Babar to Hosein, who went on the rampage and claimed a hat-trick in his final over.  He took out Amer Jamal, Mehran Mumtaz, and Luke Wood. His final score was 4 for 23.

Even though it was less than what Peshawar should have scored, Rovman Powell’s (28 off 25 balls, 4 fours) late-inning effort was sufficient to bring the total to 196/8 on the night.

The run chase got underway quickly thanks to Saud Shakeel (24 off 12), but Quetta was bowled out for 120 in the 18th over after falling behind 46/0. As Ayub, Wood, Khurram Shehzad, and Mumtaz contributed two wickets apiece to propel their team into the knockout stages, Jason Roy’s tally of 16 stood as the second greatest individual score of the innings.