PSL 2022: Islamabad United start their tournament with a massive win

Islamabad United won against Peshawar Zalmi by nine wickets.

Islamabad United chased the target of 168 runs by losing just one wicket and initiate their tournament with a stunning win. Paul Stirling was awarded the Man of the Match as the opening batsman of Islamabad United scored a powerful knock of 57 runs with a strike rate of 228.

Winning the toss, Islamabad allowed Peshawar Zalmi to bat first where Peshawar Zalmi scored 168 in the first innings with the help of Rutherford’s 70* runs in just 46 balls. The target seemed easy to chase but with Islamabad playing their first game it was a decent score to defend by Peshawar Zalmi. Surprisingly the power hitter opening pair of team Islamabad dominated the game and snatched the win from Peshawar Zalmi in just 15.5 overs. Stirling got out by playing at a strike rate of 228 while Alex Hales played a memorable knock. Alex Hales was remarkable with his bat by staying on the ground with a score of 82 runs and helped the team to win their first match this season. Gurbaz assisted Alex by scoring 27* runs off just 16 balls.

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Peshawar Zalmi’s bowling unit went wicket-less as Stirling’s wicket was a run out by Riaz while Islamabad United won the game by nine wickets not able to get out by team Peshawar. On the other hand, Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf bowled brilliantly by bagging in two wickets each.

The openers sealed the deal for Islamabad as they snatched the momentum of Peshawar Zalmi by changing the fates in their favour. Islamabad now looks ahead of the tournament as the two-time league champions will be eyeing for their third one.