Malik, Talat deliver thrilling opening win for Peshawar Zalmi

A scintillating 29-ball 52 from Hussain Talat and a powerful finish by stand-by captain Shoaib Malik (48* off 32) helped Peshawar Zalmi chase 191 with two deliveries to spare and beat Quetta Gladiators by five wickets to get their season off to a winning start.

Malik, standing in for Wahab Riaz who tested positive for Covid and hitherto trudging along at just over run-a-ball, hit 2 sixes and a four off James Faulkner in the 19th over, opening up the game by so much that even Sherfane Rutherford's wicket in the final over hardly mattered in the end.

Malik and Talat did the heavy lifting in the run-chase which had gotten off to a good start, courtesy Yasir Khan's pyrotechnics (30 off 12). But then Mohammad Nawaz struck with the three regular wickets and Peshawar were left behind the eight-ball. That's when Malik and Talat got together for an 81-run stand for the fourth wicket. Faulkner got rid of Talat in the 17th over, only to come up short against Malik when it mattered in the death overs.

Earlier, Quetta took full toll of the missed opportunities by the Peshawar fielders and racked up a competitive score on a flat pitch, although they would be ruining not making 200. Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed called the total "10 to 12 runs short" after the game.

That Quetta got to 190/4 was down to a 155-run opening stand between Ahsan Ali (73 off 46) and Will Smeed (97 off 62), the highest partnership for the Gladiators in PSL history. Smeed, on his PSL debut, hit 11 fours and 4 sixes but got out off the last ball of the innings and fell short of a well-deserved century.

Usman Qadir was the standout bowler, conceding only 20 runs in his 4 overs and picking the wickets of Ahsan Ali and Ben Duckett.

Brief Scores: Quetta Gladiators 190/4 in 20 overs (Smeed 97, Ali 73; Qadir 2-20) lost to Peshawar Zalmi 191/5 in 19.4 overs (Talat 52, Malik 48*; Nawaz 3-44) by 5 wickets