Haris' 70 trumps Azam's 85 as Peshawar Zalmi stave off Islamabad United's challenge

Azam Khan and Islamabad United put on a mighty fight in trying to chase down 207, but Peshawar Zalmi's bowlers held on to seal their third win in a row. Mohammad Haris' blazing 32-ball 70 had led Zalmi to a total of 206, but while Azam batted, it was game on. Azam hammered 85 runs in 45 balls, but his wicket in the penultimate over of the chase ended Islamabad's hopes. Salman Irshad impressed with 3 for 29, and together with Wahab Riaz, he closed the game out for an 11-run win.

Haris started the game quick off the blocks, leading the way in Zalmi racing away to 73 runs inside six overs. His innings of five sixes and seven fours at a strike-rate of 218.75, however, was over before the tenth over when he failed to successfully play the reverse sweep to Waqas Maqsood. Yasir Khan (35 in 24 balls) and Shoaib Malik (38 in 23 balls) kept the innings moving through the middle overs, but three Faheem Ashraf wickets in the slog overs pegged Zalmi back. Zalmi could add only 41 in the last five overs, finishing with 206 for 8, the ninth 200+ total in PSL 2022.

Islamabad's chase was kickstarted by Rahmanullah Gurbaz's 19-ball 46. He hit five sixes and three fours, but a slower ball from Irshad had him caught in the fourth over. Four balls later, Riaz dismissed Danish Aziz for a duck, and in the ninth over, Mubasir Khan was also out for a 19-ball 21.

However, Azam, the No. 4 kept muscling from the other end, keeping Islamabad in the hunt. He smacked three sixes in an Usman Qadir over and then cleared the ropes off Ben Cutting and Wahab too to keep the required run-rate at around 11. What he needed were contributions from the other end but Liam Dawson and stand-in captain Asif Ali could not deliver much.

With 30 needed off the last three overs, Irshad was bought back for a final over, and he kept Azam off strike with Faheem Ashraf at the batter's end with his slower balls. That five-run over, including Ashraf's wicket off the last ball, gave the advantage back to Zalmi, and Azam's toe-ended heave off the 19th bowled by Riaz for 85 ended Islamabad's hopes. The tailenders swung but mostly missed, and Zalmi moved to third on the points table after Cutting finished proceedings.