Peshawar Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz rued the fact that his team’s bowling performance was not up to the mark in the Eliminator against Islamabad United as they lost by five wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Thursday.
Peshawar Zalmi posted a fighting score of 169 runs after Riaz won the toss and decided to bat first.
Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik scored fifties for their team and Riaz believes the total was defendable. In fact, Riaz was himself the most expensive bowler for Peshawar Zalmi as he was taken for 52 runs in his quota of four overs and also went wicketless.
On the other hand, Alex Hales scored 62 runs for Islamabad United whereas Faheem Ashraf and Liam Dawson added the finishing touches for the team.
Wahab Riaz said in the post-match presentation, “We didn’t bowl according to the plan and were also sloppy in the field. The total was defendable. We are one of the best sides in PSL and it is a team to watch basically. We have been in four finals. The local players in the squad is our strength. I always believe there should be a good mix of youth and experience”.
Meanwhile, Faheem Ashraf was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine performance with both bat as well as the ball. Ashraf accounted for Mohammad Haris and also scored 19 runs off just 13 balls for ISU. Ashraf revealed the plan was to bowl the hard length.
He said after the game, “The plan was to hit the hard length and I stuck with my plan. Last time we gave away too many wickets towards the end and today the plan was not to give wickets, it’s okay even if we play dots but we wanted to take it till the end”.
As a result, Peshawar Zalmi was knocked out of the tournament whereas Islamabad United will face Lahore Qalandars in the second Eliminator at the same venue of Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Friday.
