For the second day in a row, Imad Wasim proved himself—this time at bat—to advance Islamabad United to the PSL 2024 championship game. At one point, his team was trailing Peshawar Zalmi in the run chase, and hopes were dwindling quickly. But Imad and Haider Ali worked together to write a remarkable comeback that has now enabled his team get ready for a title match against Multan Sultans on Monday, March 18.
Despite throwing three wides in the first over of the chase, Saim Ayub proved to be a formidable bowler for Peshawar Zalmi, who took the big wicket of Alex Hales. Once more, in his second attempt, Ayub broke through the gate and reached Agha Salman’s palace. Shadab Khan, the captain, was bowled out after only two deliveries, leaving his side reeling at 21/3. Then, on the powerplay, Guptill gave the much-needed boost by taking on Ayub and guiding him around for four fours and a six to take off 22. Islamabad’s happiness was short-lived, though, as Khurram Shahzad eliminated the former New Zealand right before the powerplay came to a conclusion.
With 186 being the objective, all hope appeared to be lost at 50/4. Azam Khan had a bright beginning, but he too did not stay long. But Haider’s arrival gave the batting side a clear advantage. He raced to 32 off 22 after going on a boundary-hitting rampage, and even Imad, who was batting at 18 off 20, began to pick up pace.
After Aamer Jamal was destroyed, the game fully shifted in favour of the batting side with 35 runs needed off the last three overs. Imad brought up a fifty at the end of the over after having began it with a boundary. Between those two boundaries, Jamal gave up 23 runs as Haider hit two sixes off of two deliveries over deep midwicket. Before Imam put the finishing touches on it, Haider’s fifty was also reached after one more hit over the fence in the next over.
Despite Babar Azam’s 22-ball 25 earlier in the day, Peshawar had a great start. Before that, Ayub, who was brilliant with the ball during the powerplay, also caused damage with the bat. He had already hit Naseem Shah for six in the opening over, and he finished the second over by hitting Obed McCoy for six, four, and six. Neither was Faheem Ashraf spared as Peshawar scored 59 in the powerplay. After Naseem eventually defeated Babar, the initial stand was broken, but Ayub continued to hit sixes unabated. Throughout his four overs, Imad was the only one who avoided getting hit; everyone else was leaking runs all around him.
Peshawar would have fancied their chances of reaching close to 195 after reaching 130 for the loss of just Babar at the end of the 14th over. However, Peshawar was shaken when Shadab removed Ayub for 73 and Naseem sent back the other well-set batsman, Mohammad Haris, in the next over. Without some well-timed cameos from Jamal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Peshawar would never have reached 180.
Brief scores: Islamabad United 189/5 in 19 overs (Imad Wasim 59*, Haider Ali 52*, Saim Ayub 2/34) defeated Peshawar Zalmi 185/5 in 20 overs (Saim Ayub 73, Mohammad Haris 40; Naseem Shah 3/30) by 5 wickets.
