Pakistan Super League Eliminator 1 | PSL 2021: Hazratullah Zazai helps Peshawar Zalmi to beat Karachi Kings in PSL Eliminator

In the first Eliminator 1 match of PSL 2021 (Pakistan Super League), Peshawar Zalmi has shown the way out of the tournament by defeating Karachi Kings in a thrilling match on Monday night. In this important match played in Abu Dhabi, Peshawar Zalmi won by 5 wickets with one ball remaining on the back of another scintillating half-century from his Afghan opener Hazratullah Zazai. In this first eliminator match of Pakistan Super League, Peshawar Zalmi, captained by Wahab Riaz, won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Coming to bat first, his opening pair (Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan) from Karachi Kings gave a good start to the team and there was a 41-run partnership for the first wicket. But then two wickets fell within five balls. First Mohammad Irfan dismissed Sharjeel Khan (26), while in the third ball of the next over, Martin Guptill was dismissed by Umaid Asif without opening the account.

Another fifty by Babar Azam

Babar Azam, the captain and star batsman of the Pakistan cricket team, once again scored a half-century. This batsman played an innings of 53 runs in 45 balls which included 6 fours. But on the third ball of the 15th over, veteran pacer and Peshawar Zalmi team captain Wahab Riaz showed the way to the pavilion, catching Babar Azam out. After this, the innings of Karachi Kings could not last long. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera scored 37 runs in 18 balls, on the basis of which Karachi’s team scored 175 for 7 in 20 overs. During this, Umaid, Wahab and Irfan took 2-2 wickets from Peshawar while Imran took one wicket.

Peshawar’s befitting reply, Hazratullah’s bat roared again

When Peshawar’s opening pair came on the pitch to chase down the target of 176 runs, their team got the first blow in the form of Kamran Akmal (13 runs) on the score of 49, who was bowled by Noor Ahmed. But the 23-year-old Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai, standing at the other end, played a blazing innings. This was his second half-century in three matches of this season. Jazai played a blistering innings of 77 runs in 38 balls before being dismissed in the 12th over. His brilliant innings included 5 sixes and 10 fours. After his dismissal, veteran batsman Shoaib Malik scored 30 runs in 25 balls.

thrilling final over

The match had reached a thrilling final over. Peshawar had five wickets left but needed 7 runs from the last six balls to win, that too in a knockout match where there was a lot of pressure. Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford were batting on the pitch. Both the batsmen scored three runs in the first three balls. While on the fourth ball, Rutherford leveled the score by hitting a four. Now 1 run was needed from two balls, but Rutherford, making no mistake, ran for a single and gave Peshawar a 5-wicket win.

Now it’s the turn of the second eliminator

With Pakistan Super League winning the first eliminator, Peshawar Zalmi has now qualified for the second eliminator while Karachi Kings are now out of the tournament. The second Eliminator match will now be played between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United on June 22 (Tuesday). The team that wins these two will take on Multan Sultans for the title in the final match of the season to be held on June 24.