In-form Peshawar Zalmi, who were coming into the playoffs on the back of three wins in a row, saw their campaign come to a stuttering halt against the table-toppers Multan Sultans in the first qualifier of the 2024 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Thursday, March 14 in Karachi. Zalmi, who bossed the league stage riding on their powerful all-round batting unit, saw it struggle on the night it mattered. Some outstanding bowling from Multan Sultans, coupled with a slow Karachi track meant that the Zalmi could only post 146 runs on the board.
Skipper Babar Azam was the highest scorer for Zalmi again, however, his 46-run knock took 42 balls and didn't help the 2017 champions' cause as their batting innings never got going.While many fans felt the same that Babar's wicket would bring the much-needed momentum, former Australian skipper Michael Clarke mentioned the same on air without any filter.
As soon as Chris Jordan with a pitch-perfect yorker cleaned up Babar, Clarke on live commentary said, "Very rarely do you say it's a good thing when Babar gets out. You never want him to get out because he's an absolute class player. He has been in terrific form. But, maybe maybe the extra power here, looking for boundaries, I think that's where they are at now. I think they got to go a fraction harder and I think they have got to risk it all to try and get above that 170-mark."
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When Babar got out it felt like the Zalmi would get a move on with the likes of Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Paul Walter to come. However, it wasn't the case as in trying to up the ante, the Zalmi batters kept losing wickets and eventually fell 15-20 runs short. Sultans chased the total down without much fuss with Yasir Khan smashing a half-century while Iftikhar Ahmed played a quickfire cameo of 22 off just 8 balls.
