Cadmore hails Mohammad Haris' pivotal role in Zalmi's win over Islamabad United

Peshawar Zalmi interim captain, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, expressed his admiration for Mohammad Haris' exceptional performance, which was instrumental in securing the team's triumph against Islamabad United yesterday at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

During the post-match conference, Kohler-Cadmore praised Haris for his outstanding performance and stated that he is an incredible player who can turn the game in his team's favor.

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"Haris, he doesn't surprise me. He is an unbelievable player. And he's the kind of player when he does well; you'll win the game," he said.

"And his knock obviously today was the difference, and I know that he has got the confidence that he'll go out every time and give it his all, and he won't take a backward step. It is so entertaining to watch, and I'm happy he's on my side," Tom added.

Kohler-Cadmore also confirmed that regular captain Babar Azam will be fit for the playoffs stage of the tournament, and his rest in the current match was a precautionary measure to ensure his full recovery.

"On Babar, I believe he will be 100 percent fine for the next game, I was just standing in today because obviously, he wasn't 100 percent, and if we would've won or lost today, it wouldn't have made any difference since we are in the playoffs," Cadmore said.

"So for his health, and to make sure he is right for the knockouts, it made sense for him to rest today and hopefully be 100 percent for the next games, and I think he will be," he concluded.

Despite facing some tough outings at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Zalmi managed to defend their score of 180 against a strong batting line-up of Islamabad United. 

Fast bowler Khurram Shahzad delivered some impressive yorkers in the final over to knock over Faheem Ashraf and Fazalhaq Farooqi, which proved to be the game's turning point.

In the first innings, Mohammad Haris and Bhanuka Rajapaksa formed a 115-run partnership, which gave Zalmi a solid foundation to build upon. 

However, they lost wickets at regular intervals, which hampered their progress of scoring over 200 runs on a track that had previously seen high-scoring games.