Sahibzada Farhan‘s century propelled Islamabad United to their second straight landslide victory. The unfortunate opponents, Peshawar Zalmi, were dismissed for the second time in as many games as they lost by 102 runs. United scored 243, the highest score in this edition, thanks to a barrage of consistent power hitting from their pool of heavy hitters. Despite the best efforts of Mohammad Haris’ 47-ball 87, Zalmi were never in the running. Before Zalmi collapsed for 141, Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah pushed the batters out of the way somewhat early in the chase.
This time, United chose to bat first, and it was clear right away that this pitch was better suited for batting than the tournament opener. Before Andries Gous of the USA fell in the next over, Alzarri Joseph gave up just three runs in the opening over. However, United took off after Farhan hit his first boundary.
Under-19 fast bowler Ali Raza gave Farhan 22 of the 73 that came in the powerplay in a single over.
However, as has been the case this season, as the field dispersed, the fireworks continued. Colin Munro, who had been mostly happy working in Farhan’s slipstream, started to take centre stage as Zalmi’s best bowler, Sufiyan Muqeem, went for 16 in the ninth over and another 16 in his third. Farhan had already reached a century off of 49 balls, and even though Joseph came back to dismiss the two within four balls of one another, United had already reached 163 with six overs remaining.
United had enough remaining firepower to carry on their onslaught because Zalmi had left the wicket-taking too late. Ben Dwarshuis, Jason Holder, Salman Ali, and Azam Khan all made brief appearances to help the team reach 80 off the last six.
It was completely Since Babar Azam isn’t really qualified to assist with the pursuit, his early departure—nicking off to first slip off Dwarshuis on his third delivery—didn’t significantly change the odds. However, Saim Ayub was cheaply dismissed when Mitchell Owen, who had been promoted after his weekend cameo against Quetta Gladiators, fell the next over. Zalmi was down 26 for 3 at the end of the fourth over, the asking rate was nearly 14, and the match was about to end.
No matter how hard Haris tried, a solitary effort would never save the day. Both Zalmi and Pakistan had been concerned about his recent lack of form in T20 cricket, but he was ruthlessly effective, taking Drawshuis for a four and six in the next over and smashing two sixes in a 17-run over from Holder following the powerplay.
However, there was a lack of team support. When Tom Kohler-Cadmore returned in the ninth over, Wasim had the nagging line that makes him so hard to get rid of, which led to his dismissal. In the ensuing overs, Haris consistently found the boundary as the game settled into a pattern, only to lose one partner after another.
Perhaps it was appropriate that Wasim used the coup de grace because he knew it couldn’t last. The ninth wicket to go for Zalmi came when Haris smacked him over midwicket to reach 87 before failing to get under one and grounding out to long-on. The trophy holders quickly put themselves in a strong position for another attempt at the championship after Dwarshuis dismissed Mohammad Ali two overs later.
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