Zalmi vs United, Eliminator 1 at Lahore, PSL 2023, Mar 16 2023 - Match Result

The Peshawar Zalmi players are ecstatic. Aamer Jamal, the yorker machine, hugs Babar Azam and they all join in with jubilant celebrations. Contrasting emotions for the men in red. Shadab Khan fought hard but the bowling was just too good at the death. The whole Zalmi's support staff, the team owners, and the players are rejoicing the moment. Babar Azam careered them to 183/8 with a well-paced half-century but he would have dearly liked to push on. However, United were able to stymie the run-flow in the last ten overs as the ball started to hold up in the surface and it wasn't easy to time it. Handy contributions from Saim Ayub and Mohammad Haris gave them a fighting total. In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz departed early in the piece but Alex Hales took the game deep and forged a crucial partnership with Sohaib Maqsood (60). Azam Khan, Colin Munro, and Faheem Ashraf just couldn't handle the thunderbolts from Salman Irshad and Aamer Jamal and therefore, United fell short by 12 runs. United's campaign comes to an end while Zalmi will have to do it all over again tomorrow against Lahore Qalandars in the Eliminator 2. On that note, it's time for me, Rvel Zahid, to say goodbye!

Salman Irshad: My aim was to stick to the basics, bowl the yorkers and slower ones. Yorker isn't impacted by the pitch conditions and I rely on it to stop the run-flow. Babar Azam told us it's only a matter of picking a few wickets and we will be right back in the game and that's exactly what happened when we dimissed Munro and Azam Khan. It's been an honour to play under the captaincy of Babar Azam and I wanted to perform on this big stage."

Shadab Khan: I think we were a bit sloppy in the first ten overs while bowling. Similarly in the batting, things were under control for us but we let it slip. Credit goes to Jamal who executed his yorkers and the ball was reversing too. At the end of the day, win and loss are part of the game but when you take a decision (on toss), you have to back yourself. Our body language wasn't that good in the first 10 overs which gave them a good start. We qualified for the playoffs but as a team we weren't perfect and that is why we haven't made it to the final. We could have finished on the top two spots but we didn't play smart cricket."

Babar Azam: The ball was reversing in the middle overs and our bowlers adjusted their length really well. The way we started our batting, we were eyeing 200 and I wanted to continue because it's not easy for a new batter to score straightaway. I felt we were 20 rums short, but after the first 10 overs, the ball wasn't coming nicely onto the bat so great adjustment by the bowlers. There is always room for improvement, we will sit and talk about the mistakes. We will have to bowl well in the first six overs and not give momentum to the other team.

Aamer Jamal: I asked Shaun Tait about pace and he told me fast bowling is all about attitude and I made up my mind to bowl fast. We went into the field with clarity of mindset, if we have to bowl a yorker, then we will stick to it no matter what, and we didn't deviate from our plans and that's what Babar Azam told us as well.

Qasim: "Sending Azam over Munro was where Islambad lost the game for me"

Rao Kamran Ali : "Shadab missed the trick by bringing in Faheem Ashraf ahead of himself

Danish: "Shadab made a crucial blunder by coming in to bat himself so late. He came up the order for IU previous season and even for Pak over the last year or so. Imo a major captaincy error that played a big part in IU's termination from this PSL."

Faizan Ahmed: "Islamabad united need to get rid of Asif, Hasan and many others. Plus they need to find new emerging players. Apart from Farooqi, this season their bowling attack lacked bite. Can't control games when you don't get wickets in powerplay, and can't expect your batting to chase 180-200 everyday."