Playing their first game of PSL 2022, Islamabad United crushed Peshawar Zalmi by 9 wickets on Sunday. Chasing a 168-run total, Alex Hales and Paul Sterling wreaked havoc with the bat at National Stadium in Karachi.
The duo tore apart Peshawar Zalmi’s bowling unit. They stitched a sensational 112-run partnership inside the first 10 overs to take the game away from Peshawar Zalmi.
Paul Sterling, unfortunately, got out after scoring 57 runs in just 25 deliveries. Alex Hales, though, was in no mood to go back to the dugout. He kept sending the balls at the boundary ropes. He played an unbeaten knock of 82 runs in 54 balls and, thereby, helped the side chase down the score in 15.5 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz also made vital support as he contributed 27 off 16 balls, including 1 four and 2 sixes.
Not a single bowler from Peshawar Zalmi managed to pick a wicket. The only wicket came via run-out. Earlier, Peshawar Zalmi made an awful start with the bat. They lost the first four wickets for just 35 runs inside the powerplay.
Shoaib Malik then stitched hands with Sherfane Rutherford and then led the team’s recovery. The duo stitched a 50-plus partnership before Malik got out in the 15th over.
Malik scored 25 runs in 22 deliveries, including 2 fours. Sherfane Rutherford, however, played till the end and stitched another fifty-plus run partnership for the sixth wicket. Rutherford remained unbeaten on 70 off 46 deliveries and helped the team reach a competitive score of 168 runs in the first innings.
Brief Scores: Islamabad United 172 for 1 (Hales 82*, Stirling 57) beat Peshawar Zalmi 168 for 6 (Rutherford 70, Ashraf 2-23, Hasan 2-34) by nine wickets
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