PSL 2 - Match 19 : Shahid Afridi leads stunning comeback as Peshawar Zalmi defeat Quetta Gladiators

[Abdullah719]

​

Peshawar Zalmi Team
Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Marlon Samuels, Sohaib Maqsood, Shakib al Hasan, Darren Sammy*, Shahid Afridi, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Asghar.

Quetta Gladiators Team
Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfraz Ahmed*, Mahmudullah Riad, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Umar Gul, Tymal Mills.

Sammy won the toss and opted to field as Quetta made two changes with Mills and Gul replacing Perera and Anwar. Peshawar began the better of the two teams as Asghar got Shafiq stumped with a beautiful first delivery and then had Shehzad caught in the deep four balls later. Pietersen and Rossouw were circumspect as the bowlers bowled tight lines. Just as the latter started to get going, he was dismissed by Shakib for 38. Pietersen was next as he was caught off Asghar after making 41 off 43 balls. Sarfraz was run out while Mahmudullah was bowled by Wahab. Hasan Ali dismissed Nawaz and Wahab bowled a tight last over, with a run out on the last ball seeing Quetta all out for 128.

Zalmi's chase began with an 11-ball over as Zulfiqar couldn't get his lines right. The batsmen kept their wickets but progress was slow to start with Kamran doing the bulk of the scoring. Tamim was the first to fall as he was stumped of Mahmudullah's bowling. Samuels' promotion up the order didn't have the desired result as a pacy Mills delivery saw him caught with Amin taking a superb catch. Kamran was next, out LBW for 26 though replays showed he got a glove on it while Shakib was run out after a mixup with Hafeez. Maqsood and Sammy threw their wickets away to Mahmudullah on consecutive deliveries as Zalmi suddenly found themselves 52/6. However, Afridi batted sensibly while Hafeez stuck in there despite his struggles though he eventually fell to Mills for 22 off 33 balls. 40 were needed off the last four overs and Afridi led the way, hitting timely boundaries. Mills got Wahab caught behind to make the equation 16 off 8 balls but Hasan hit two fours to tilt the equation in Peshawar's favour, and Afridi needed no further encouragement, hitting two fours to finish it off as Zalmi won by 2 wickets with 4 balls remaining.

Next match: Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings

 

[kaboom]

Afridi its time to un retire we need a power hiter.

 

[s.h.a.k]

Bad day in the office for Afridi haters.
Showing he still the best lower order hitter Pakistan has at the moment.

 

[Belawal2014]

Afridi its time to un retire we need a power hiter.

#BringBackAfridi2k17.

 

[Smbhayi]

 

[GreenMasterz007]

bad day for all the Tuktuk lovers ... We need a player like Afridi at 6-7 .. But no we have nawaz |XD

 

[PakLFC]

OMG. I hope Lala bhai isn't thinking of coming out of international retirement already!

 

[GreenMasterz007]

OMG. I hope Lala bhai isn't thinking of coming out of international retirement already!

Well he is playing better Thn nawaz and Shafiq and Imad don't know why u guys hate a player so much.

 

[PakLFC]

Well he is playing better Thn nawaz and Shafiq and Imad don't know why u guys hate a player so much.

Who said anything about hating Lala!? A few good innings doesn't merit an international return at his age. We need to find the next Lala now!

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Annoying drama. It's a frickin t20 tournament.

 

[Hasan123]

Loved afridi celebration lol. Good knock by him today Zalmi need to improve there batting, too much brainless shots being played by there batsmen. There bowling attack is strong. Maybe defending a total is the way to go for them.

 

[s.h.a.k]

Loved afridi celebration lol. Good knock by him today Zalmi need to improve there batting, too much brainless shots being played by there batsmen. There bowling attack is strong. Maybe defending a total is the way to go for them.

They can only defend if they don't play Junaid Khan. Twice he played and they were defending and both times he cost them the game with a poor over at the death.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Loved afridi celebration lol. Good knock by him today Zalmi need to improve there batting, too much brainless shots being played by there batsmen. There bowling attack is strong. Maybe defending a total is the way to go for them.

No total is safe if Junaid Khan is in your team

 

[PakLFC]

Many years back Afridi said he's received more love in India then Pakistan. Many Pak fans like me have lost a much respect for him since then.

 

[Adijazz1706]

Many years back Afridi said he's received more love in India then Pakistan. Many Pak fans like me have lost a much respect for him since then.

It's true on PP at least, not true overall.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Many years back Afridi said he's received more love in India then Pakistan. Many Pak fans like me have lost a much respect for him since then.

He said that a few months ago.... And people made too big a deal out of it

 

[Mobashir]

Again he showed why he is loved so much. On a turner where it was so difficult to score he made it look so easy. Took a lot of singles with ease and hit the big ones when needed.

 

[Abdullah]

Many years back Afridi said he's received more love in India then Pakistan. Many Pak fans like me have lost a much respect for him since then.

if everyone loved afridi his statement would be true becaus india popilation is at least 4 times bigger.
and if u take pp as ur sample very few indians hate afridi like some pakistanis do.

anyhows he has proved in mast few days he was right to play odis and t20s internationally until he did because we do not have the number 8 position covered by any stretch

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Shahid bhai please make a comeback to international cricket. We miss you

 

[Hasan123]

No total is safe if Junaid Khan is in your team

Don't see him playing after Asghars performance yesterday

 

[DHONI183]

Incredible innings by Afridi, so loved seeing him at his best! What a game it was! So pleasing to see Peshawar win a close game for a change, as they´ve had a history of losing close encounters.

On the other hand, Quetta, a team known for choking others in every tight match, have lost two games in two days from very winnable positions.

 

[DHONI183]

Hasan Ali´s two crucial boundaries, the first of which was a drive that great batsmen would be proud of, helped Afridi a great deal, as up to that point he´d hardly been getting any support.

Love Hasan´s attitude in general. He has a lot of fire in his stomach and always seems ready for a fight; Imad is another. Pakistan badly need such characters in the team.

 

[PakLFC]

He said that a few months ago.... And people made too big a deal out of it

No it is not to big a deal at all. Afridi is a man with very little intelligence. Basically, he is still a kid stuck in a man's body. He will never grow up.

 

[PakLFC]

if everyone loved afridi his statement would be true becaus india popilation is at least 4 times bigger.
and if u take pp as ur sample very few indians hate afridi like some pakistanis do.

anyhows he has proved in mast few days he was right to play odis and t20s internationally until he did because we do not have the number 8 position covered by any stretch

Doesn't matter if or not India loves him. He should not go around making statements like they love him more then us Paks who made him. He does not perform at international level that has been repeatedly proved. I wish all you Afridi fans will get over your obsession and let him go now. His time is over, we need to look towards the future now.