I placed my bet on Favour of Karachi kings but they lost the game In a nail-biting encounter Peshawar Zalmi emerged victory by a low margin of two runs. Peshawar Zalmi win securing the top spot on the points table. Peshawar Zalmi's overall performance left room for improvement but opener Babar Azam excellent half-century showcased batting power. Karachi Kings batsmen Seifert and Irfan khan displayed memorable contributions while Anwar Ali's standout performance in the last over added intensity to the game but Zalmi clinched the victory at last Over of the game and jumped to the top spot on the points table.
As the group phase last game all eyes are on the pivotal clash between Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators. The Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators match holds the key to deciding whether Quetta after winning and secures the second spot or Multan Sultans wins and claims the top position with 14 points. I think any team win definitely affects Islamabad united standing in the knockout phase of PSL.
PSL is peaking at the right moment. The last 3 or 4 matches were a last-ball thrillers. Finally, a bowler has defended runs in the last over. On a slow pitch, Peshawar put a competitive score on the board. Karachi batters fought hard for the victory, but Jamal was too good for them on the last ball. PZ secured a place in the top 2.
In today's match, I think Multan will win against Quetta. Multan only needs to pick the wickets on QG's openers. If the pitch behaves like the last match, I will favour QG, as they have outstanding spinners in the team.
Although this is not much talked about but Scotland team is touring UAE to play with the Dubai cricket team. In the first match that was played yesterday, Scotland scored 148 runs. George Munsey scored 75 runs in 49 balls and this was an innings where he should have made Scotland won this match but unfortunately he was not supported by any other batsmen. Junaid Siddique from UAE destroyed their innings and took four wickets giving away only 14 runs.
This target was chased easily by United Arab Emirates team. They have their captain, Muhammad Waseem who have a brilliant 68 runs and made sure UAE won the match as he remained not out. He was well supported by Tanish Suri and Alishan Sharafu and they United Arab Emirates team chased this score in 17.4 overs.
I wish that Scotland team learn from their batting mistakes so that we may see some competitive matches in this series.
Beating UAE on these pitches will be a tough ask for Scotland, but they are very much capable of doing this. George Munsey fought well, but, in the end, it was not enough because there was no support from the other end, whatsoever. Seven of their batters scored in single digits. Siddique was exceptional in his spell. In the end, it was an easy chase for the UAE. Their captain led the team from the front and scored an unbeaten fifty. UAE's top order looked solid against Scotland. In the next match, I think Scotland should rethink their strategy against UAE.
Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bat. I thought Hong Kong would do well at home, but Hong Kong were bowled out for 121 runs in 18.3 overs. A target of 122 runs was not enough to win.
This was a low score match and Papua New Guinea team shocked Hong Kong team and Hong Kong all team out on 121 runs . Papua New Guinea team won the match I 12 overs. This was bowling friendly pitch and bowlers played very well on this pitch S. Bau took 2 wickets by giving 10 runs in 2 overs and he also made a score for his team and was awarded as a player of the match.K. Morea also took 2 wickets by giving 35 runs in 4 overs and he performed an excellent bowling .From Zimbabwe batting side , z Ali played very well and made 55 run in 29 balls.
Hong Kong was not in the game from ball one. PNG bowled beautifully and got 4 wickets inside the powerplay. Zeeshan Ali was the only batter able to score some runs and his onslaught helped HK to a below-par score on this pitch. Other lower order also showed some resistance and stayed at the crease which helped Zeeshan in his onslaught. PNG openers started their inning with all guns blazing. They took HK bowlers to the cleaners and chased down the total in 12.4 overs. Both the batters scored their respective fifties.