Peshawar Zalmi race to 188-run total despite early setbacks

Ravi Bopara’s excellence with the bat and a fiery cameo from Amad Butt towards the end propelled Peshawar Zalmi to an impressive 188-run total despite early setbacks against Karachi Kings during their Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six encounter at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday.

After losing the toss and being put into bat first, the Peshawar Zalmi side were off to a steady start as openers Kamran Akmal and Tom Kohlet guided their side to 30 runs in four overs.

Akmal loved lucky when he was dropped at point by fielder Babar Azam early in the innings off the bowling of debutant pacer Abbas Afridi.

The pacer however forced Akmal (21 off 17 balls) to edge a wider delivery straight into the hands of fielder Mohammad Ilyas, at the deep third man position, to pick up his first wicket of the HBL PSL 6.

Abbas then removed Tom Kohler (10 off 11 balls), caught by fielder Sharjeel Khan, in the same over ensuring that both openers were back in the hut.

Peshawar Zalmi were further jolted when pacer Mohammad Ilyas removed veteran all-rounder, who is also leading Zalmi today in absence of injured Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik (one off two balls) with a successful LBW appeal. Malik refereed the decision upstairs to no avail as replays showed that the ball would have clipped leg stump and the original decision was upheld.

Batsman Haider Ali (nine off 12 balls) fell next as he skied a slower delivery from all-rounder Daniel Christian straight into the hands of fielder Abbas Afridi.

With Peshawar Zalmi in deep trouble, all-rounder Ravi Bopara and batsman Sherfane Rutherford set about the task of rebuilding the innings and ensuring that their side could reach a substantial total.

The duo combined for a crucial 82-run partnership off 59 balls to guide their side out of a tricky period. Rutherford finally fell in the penultimate over of the innings off the bowling of Mohammad Ilyas, caught behind by wicketkeeper Joe Clarke, after scoring 46 runs off 32 balls.

All-rounder Amad Butt came out swinging in the end and scored a fiery unbeaten 21 run-knock off just six balls that shifted the momentum for his side. 

Ravi Bopara remained unbeaten at the end scoring 58 runs off 40 balls to ensure that Peshawar Zalmi scored a massive 188-run total despite the early setbacks.

Abbas Afridi and Mohammad Ilyas took two wickets each for Karachi Kings while Daniel Christian took one wicket.