Lahore Qalandars lost their opening home game to Peshawar Zalmi, who swept to win at the Gaddafi Stadium thanks to a half-century from Babar Azam. The Qalandars were reduced to 21 for 4 when Alzarri Joseph and Luke Wood sliced their top and middle order to ribbons. Only a late half-century from Sikandar Raza helped the Qalandars reach a respectably competitive total; Shaheen Afridi’s team reached 129 thanks to Raza’s 37-ball fifty-two and stoic lower-order resistance.
In the powerplay against an on-song Shaheen and Haris Rauf, it was just enough to give Zalmi a fleeting scare, bringing the visitors down to 40 for 3. However, any concerns of a collapse were allayed by an unbroken 93-run partnership between Babar and Hussain Talat. Zalmi easily reached their goal with 20 balls remaining, never worrying about run rate.
With the support of his bowlers from the start, Babar chose to put the Qalandars in after winning the toss.
Before Zalmi broke through, Fakhar Zaman’s two borders provided the most phoney dawns. Fakhar, Asif Ali, Abdullah Shafique, and Daryl Mitchell all left after four wickets fell for six runs, and then breakout player Ali Raza got an edge from Sam Billings that Babar easily held onto.
Shaheen came out and hit a couple of sixes, but he didn’t seem to have much stamina and was out on the tenth ball. Birthday boy Raza took charge of the innings, leading the Qalandars out of the muck with a delicate mix between taking chances and milking the strike. With three overs remaining, Raza reached his half-century after he targeted Mitchell Owen and Arif Yaqoob, the Australian giving up 17 in the 17th over to push the Qalandars over 120. Ali Raza’s 19th over denied Raza the strike, but Joseph’s superb last over held Qalandars to only two in the 18th. The Qalandars were bowled out two balls after the Zimbabwean, frustrated, collapsed off the first delivery of the 20th.
The home team’s new-ball combination, Shaheen and Haris, removed Saim Ayub and Tom Kohler-Cadmore within the first nine deliveries, giving the crowd, which is always more crowded at the Gaddafi than anywhere else in Pakistan, a glimmer of hope. Babar and Muhammad Haris appeared vulnerable as Haris’ incredibly intense first over threatened to hammer through more batters. However, the two persisted, and after one over, Rauf was inexplicably removed from the attack, so they settled.
He would come back for the Powerplay’s last over and target Babar again. Babar was hit on the pads after a bouncer he couldn’t control soared past the keeper for six. The umpire raised his finger, but DRS saved the Zalmi captain on height by millimetres. After Babar’s beautiful drive to third for four, the game started to turn in the other direction.
Despite not being a strong striker, Talat had the time and room to settle into his innings without worrying about the scoreboard. The Qalandars found it difficult to maintain the Powerplay’s intensity, and Babar’s skill at low chases started to overwhelm them. While skilfully navigating Rishad Hossain on a slightly sloping pitch, he discovered the occasional boundary, and at some indeterminate moment, the pursuit turned into a cakewalk.
Babar sailed to a 37-ball half-century with a flick off Asif Afridi, completing a repetition of the innings he had played innumerable times. Zalmi moved up to fourth place, ahead of the Qalandars on net run rate, as Talat added the cherry on top with two boundaries off Rauf, who had long since lost his power. Talat also contributed his own half-century. Zalmi might be reviving their campaign at the expense of the Qalandars.
India
