Qalandars book playoff spot as Zalmi collapse in virtual knockout

Fakhar Zaman's 60 off 36 set up the game for Lahore Qalandars, before Salman Mirza's 4 for 31 sealed a rain-reduced 13-over PSL 2025 game in Rawalpindi on Sunday night. Peshawar Zalmi were guilty of overall sloppiness. They dropped at least four catches - including two off Fakhar - and their chase never left the ground, even if some late hitting narrowed the margin.

The loss knocked Zalmi out of the competition, as they finished fifth on the table. For Qalandars, the win confirmed their place in the Eliminator, to be played on Thursday.

Fakhar brought his most fearless self to the powerplay. His first six came off a bad short ball which he pulled for six. But the second big hit, one ball later, was imperious. He ran at Luke Wood and thumped him high over the long-on boundary.

He would hit only one more six in his innings, but struck five fours, punishing errors in line in particular. By the end of the powerplay, he was 45 off 21 balls. Qalandars had sped to 80 for 1.

It wasn't all about Fakhar, though. In the first four overs, Mohammad Naeem was, in fact, the primary blaster, hitting three fours and a six in his ten-ball 22. Later, Kusal Perera contributed 17 off eight balls, before Asif Ali smashed 18 off six (the first two deliveries he faced sailed over the boundary).

Vitally, all of those supporting batters continued to take risks and push the run rate, despite Fakhar's success at the other end.

Although Zalmi always needed to go at almost 11.5 runs an over, there was an outside chance they could have made a strong charge, given the batting-friendly surface and the damp outfield. Mirza effectively killed the chase in his first two overs.

His first wicket was down to a little good fortune, Saim Ayub treading on his stumps trying to play a back-foot shot. But in his next over, Mirza bowled Mohammad Haris and Max Bryant off successive deliveries. The ball to Bryant was especially impressive, he curved it away from the batter from over the wicket, then jagged it back into his stumps.

Mirza would also dismiss Ahmed Daniyal in his last over.