DSC 8603 min — *Alex Hales played a vital knock for United in a must win game. Photo: PCB*

Alex Hales splendid 62 knocks Peshawar Zalmi out of PSL 2022:

Islamabad United will clash with Lahore Qalandars for a spot in the Pakistan Super League final alongside Multan Sultans. The Shadab Khan-led side beat Peshawar Zalmi by five wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, bouncing back from a line of three losses paving the way to this Eliminator 1. It was the stopping point for Peshawar Zalmi, who indeed had finished above Islamabad United in the points table and even beat them the last time these two teams went head to head in the league stage.

It was an upside down last couple of overs in the middle, with the 170-run chase headed no reasonable way. Everything warmed up in the last five overs, when Salman Irshad bowled the dangerous Asif Ali with 51 still required. Skipper Wahab Riaz bowled the seventeenth and the nineteenth overs yet was sporadic with his control, bowling four wides and yielding 26 runs in those two overs. But Benny Howell, bowling the last over, picked out big hitting Azam Khan lbw with the first ball of the last over, just for Liam Dawson to hit a 6 and 4 off the initial two balls he confronted and take Islamabad over the line.

Islamabad were boosted by the arrival of their big guns and went in with upwards of six changes therefore. Alex Hales, Will Jacks, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Waqas Maqsood and skipper Shadab all came in. Peshawar Zalmi, too made some changes, getting Yasir Khan, Howell, Salman Irshad and Ali Majid.

Deciding to bat first, it was a somewhat steady first 50% of the innings for Peshawar, with just 67/2 coming in the firstq 10 overs. Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik took as much time as is needed to fabricate their innings and afterward unleashed their fifties in the midst of a whirlwind of shots. Kamran Akmal hit 7 fours and 2 sixes while Malik hit 4 fours and 2 sixes, as Hasan Ali got three wickets, including two at the death.

Hussain Talat strolled to the middle in the fourteenth over, when Shadab Khan on his comeback sent Kamran Akmal packing. Hussain Talat’s 15-ball 28 towards the end was what, infact, compensated for the slowish start, with 102 runs coming in the last 10 overs, incorporating 62 in the last five overs.

All things considered, the total was always going to be a test for the big hitting Islamabad United, particularly with all the dew around. There were additionally a host of players back for the side, including openers Alex Hales and Will Jacks, and the previous particularly made a imprint with a fifty which he came to with a six off Wabah Riaz.

Alex Hales, who took as much time as necessary to get off the blocks and was two times given reprieves — off a missed stumping and a dropped catch by Khalid Usman – – proceeded to hit 6 fours and 3 sixes. Even after Shadab was out caught off Salman Irshad in the eleventh over, Alex Hales kept on plug the gaps and hit the boundaries, never permitting the asking rate out of hand. He was bowled by Irshad, however, in the fifteenth over, when the side required 59 runs off the last six overs.

That is when Peshawar Zalmi came into the match for a little period, to miss the mark against the big hitting line-up of Islamabad United. Azam Khan, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf and in conclusion Dawson all contributed with vital hits to the fence when it mattered.