Lahore Qalandars ended Peshawar Zalmi campaign with a five-wicket win and an over to spare in Karachi on Saturday. (More Cricket News)
PSL resumed after a COVID-19 break of eight months and despite losing Ben Dunk early (20 off 19 balls), Mohammad Hafiz steered Qalandars into second eliminator with a 34-ball half century.
Qalandars at one point needed 41 runs of the last four overs and Hafeez remained calm to steer the team home.
Earlier, batting first, Zalmi saw useful contributions from Shoaib Malik (39), Faf du Plessis (31) and Imam-ul-Haq (24) and Hardus Viljoen (37) as the set a target of 171. Viljoen hit three sixes and equal number of fours and his quickfire knock of just 16 balls helped Zalmi reach 170/9 in 20 overs.
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Dilbar Hussain snared three wickets for 33 runs for Lahore Qalandars. Shaheen Shah Afridi (2/19), Haris Rauf (2/48) and David Wiese (2/40) were the other wicket-takers.
As Qalandars got down to chasing the target, Ben Dunk provided sheet-anchor role while Hafeez accelerated as the duo stitched a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket.
"We lost three wickets in first six, so plan was just to soak the pressure. Dew played a role and contributions from Ben (Dunk), Samit (Patel) and the two sixes from David (Wiese) helped." Mohammad Hafeez said.
Lahore Qalandars will take on Multan Sultans on Sunday. The winner of this match will go on to face Karachi Kings in the final.
