Islamabad United 2024 Players played the eliminator match of HBL PSL 8 against PSL 9 Peshawar Zalmi on 16 March 2023.
You can check HBL PSL 2024 Live Score as well.
Whoever wins this match will go straight to the next eliminator and play the Qalandars. While the losing team will pack their bags and leave the tournament at this stage. So this was a crucial match for both these teams. It is either yes or no. There was no middle ground. Were the Zalmis able to progress to the next phase of the tournament, or will Islamabad United keep their chance of winning for the third time alive after this match?
Islamabad United have had a great tournament. Although their players shifted gears late, Azam khan shifting the gears did wonders for the team. However, Shadab khan has an injured finger which hasn’t recovered fully. That has affected his performance negatively. Peshawar Zalmi has had a pretty strong team this season. They have Babar as their skipper. TKC is always a lingering fear in the hearts of the opposition.
So which team was able to go to the next round of the tournament? Let’s see together.
Peshawar Zalmi against the Islamabad United – Match details
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| GADDAFI STADIUM LAHORE | |
| Match | Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi |
| Match number | 32 |
| Date | Thursday, March 16, 2023 |
| Time | 7:00 PM |
| Stage | Eliminator |
| Umpires | Ahsan Raza |
| Faisal Afridi | |
| TV Umpire | Alex Wharf |
| Reserve Umpire | Rashid Riaz |
| Match Referee | Roshan Mahanama |
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Toss
The United boys won the toss and they decided to let the Yellow storm bat first.
Squad
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| PESHAWAR ZALMI | ISLAMABAD UNITED |
| Saim Ayub | Rahmanullah Gurbaz |
| Babar Azam | Alex Hales |
| Haseebullah Khan | Sohaib Maqsood |
| Mohammad Haris | Azam Khan |
| Tom Kohler-Cadmore | Colin Munro |
| James Neesham | Faheem Ashraf |
| Aamer Jamal | Shadab Khan |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | Hasan Ali |
| Wahab Riaz | Mubasir Khan |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Mohammad Wasim |
| Salman Irshad | Fazalhaq Farooqi |
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First innings – 184 runs
- Peshawar started strong, with Saim and Babar providing quick runs in the powerplay. Although the score in powerplay was pretty good, Saim Ayub went away in the 5th over after he and Babar completed the 50-run stand.
- After that, Haseebullah came and showed some promise, but he went quickly as well.
- However, Haris and Babar started hammering each ball for runs. They had a 41-run stand in just 26 deliveries they faced.
- Then, Haris went away after scoring 34 quick runs. Credit goes to Hasan Ali for tricking him with the slower one.
- But it didn’t stop the onslaught of Babar. He scored his 50 in 28 deliveries.
- Babar was looking good. He had scored 64 runs in 38 deliveries until the United’s skipper got him out. This was a crucial wicket for Islamabad.
- The tailenders couldn’t do much and Peshawar Zalmi posted a total of 183 runs.
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| PESHAWAR ZALMI 183-8 | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Babar Azam 64(39) | Shadab Khan 2-40 |
| Mohammad Haris 34(17) | Mohammad Wasim 1-29 |
| Saim Ayub 23(16) | Fazalhaq Farooqi 1-31 |
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Islamabad United | 171-6
- The United had 184 runs to make, but they didn’t start well. Rahmanullah Gurbaz went away in the 2nd over after making 10 runs.
- But Hales and Sohaib started to punish the Zalmi bowlers. They had a huge partnership of 117 runs in 77 deliveries. If not for this performance, Islamabad was in a precarious situation.
- Things were looking good for United until Aamer Jamal came to play and took the wickets of both of these batsmen.
- It was Aamer’s efforts that caused the batting lineup of Islamabad to collapse.
- After Sohaib and Alex, Islamabad was never in the game.
- Salman Irshad added the icing on the cake and restrained the team. He also took two wickets.
- In the end, the skipper Shahad did try to win the match with his heroics, but it was too late to cry over spilt milk.
- Congratulations to the Zalmis for winning the match. And good luck to the United for the next tournament. Unfortunately, they will no longer be the only team which has won the PSL title two times.
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| ISLAMABAD UNITED 171-6 | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Sohaib Maqsood 60(48) | Salman Irshad 2-18 |
| Alex Hales 57(37) | Aamer Jamal 2-36 |
| Shadab Khan 26(12) | Azmatullah Omarzai 1-33 |
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Player of the match
From the first look, it seems like the skipper deserves the man of the match award. But if you look deeper, it was Aamer’s quick wickets that led to this win. If he hadn’t taken the wickets of Sohaib and Hales, this match was out of the hands of Zalmis. Both of these batters were looking good. However, Aamer’s pitched-up deliveries bowled them out. Truly, he is the man of the match.
Present situation
The Zalmis won the match. This means that we are going to see a “Babar vs. Shaheen” again. The Lahore Qalandars lost miserably against the Sultans. So, they will be looking forward to coming back strong. While the Zalmis have won this match and will be entering the Gaddafi stadium with high morale. They survived this eliminator and will be looking forward to sailing through the storm smoothly.
The PSL Schedule 2024 fixtures also updated.
Qalandars or the Zalmis, who will face off against Multan Sultans on 23 March 2023? Let’s see the next eliminator of HBL PSL 8 to find out.