Zalmi fail to grab chances in PSL thriller

Multan Sultans' cricketers celebrate after winning the T20 cricket match between Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi on March 13, 2020. (AFP)

• Multan’s victory leaves the tournament still wide open with only three matches to go
• PCB announced that the contest would be cut short by four days amid coronavirus fears

KARACHI: On a day which began with the surreal reality of the coronavirus pandemic firmly taking hold on the PSL, Peshawar Zalmi fell to a loss against Multan Sultans at Karachi in what was a must win game for the team in yellow. Set a seemingly easy target to chase, Peshawar struggled but never looked out of it till the end. It left them bitterly disappointed with a game they would feel they should have done better with.
In the early hours of Friday, news had emerged that most foreign players would be leaving the country immediately. This was soon after the announcement that the remaining matches in Karachi would be held behind closed doors, with no fans. By the afternoon, the PCB announced that the tournament would be cut short by four days. Given all the other existential challenges that had threatened this historic PSL – the first to be played entirely in Pakistan – the rise of a global pandemic was perhaps one eventuality that no one had expected.
It meant a return to the PSL in front of an empty stadium, a constant blight during its run in the UAE. It also meant that both teams were missing important players, though Zalmi’s completely Pakistani squad suggested the bigger loss. But it didn’t immediately play out that way for Multan who were put into bat by Wahab Riaz who won the toss for Zalmi. After a steady start from their much heralded youngsters, Zeeshan Ashraf and the debutant Rohail Nazir, Multan crumbled in the middle phase. Moeen Ali and Ravi Bopara, two Englishmen who have chosen to stay, had miserable outings with the bat.
Zeeshan had reached his highest score in the PSL with 52, but the fall of his wicket led to a collapse as Multan folded tamely. Given Multan had already qualified there was also the suspicion that they just weren’t as plugged in as their opponents.
Those suspicions quickly fell away as Multan immediately put Zalmi on the back foot. Mohammad Irfan got rid of danger man, Kamran Akmal, which brought out the novel sight of Wahab walking in at three. The expectation would have been that the captain would use his big hitting prowess, but it never came to be. Wahab played a tepid knock before falling to Tanvir.
Imam ul Haq offered the main resistance around which Zalmi built, with veteran Shoaib Malik offering steady support. However, like Multan before the fall of wickets made it hard for the new batter to up the pace and Zalmi also began to collapse. They stumbled to the final over with a daunting 15 to get for their tail enders. But Multan’s newcomer Ali Shafiq almost ruined a fine over with two full toss no balls. It briefly brought Zalmi back but they lacked the requisite firepower to finish off the match.
Multan continued to show off the thoughtfulness with which their side has been built, as their experienced bowlers pulled back a match their batters had surely lost. Their win leaves the tournament still wide open with only three matches to go. Zalmi would be kicking themselves for letting this fall away, but with all that has been happening, there’s only so much that could be controlled.