In the third and final T20 match, UAE performed worse against Scotland and in the last match, UAE lost the series to Scotland with the worst performance. Scotland scored 90 plus runs against UAE in the first innings and got all out at that time it seemed that UAE would win easily but in the second innings we saw the opposite. United Arab Emirates were bowled out for just 62 runs as the Middle Eastern nation lost the T20 series against Scotland in a comfortable match.
I wasn't expecting such a low-scoring match. After Scotland made 94 runs, I thought UAE would easily chase this total, but a surprise was waiting for me. UAE got out on 62 runs. Scotland won the series by 2-1.
Peshawar Zalmi lost this match due to bad batting. If the batsmen could have done well, the match would have been very competitive.
Captain Babar Azam scored the highest runs for Peshawar Zalmi. But he batted very slowly. He batted only at 109 strike rate in such an important match. Peshawar Zalmi provided big targets in the last two matches against Multan Sultans. Even then they won by only 4 and 5 runs. And in today's match when Peshawar Zalmi was giving a target of 147 runs, I was sure that Multan Sultans team is going to win the match.
We haven't seen a better performance from Captain Mohammad Rizwan, but Yasir Khan and Usman Khan have batted well in this match. Opener Yasir was unbeaten with 54 runs off 37 balls and Usman 36 runs.
However, Peshawar Zalmi still have a chance to qualify for the finals. The Eliminator 2 match will be held tomorrow. I think we will see Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi match again in the final.
Multan Sultan team have done their homework. They were exceptional with the execution and Rizwan's captaincy was spot on. Saim's wicket put pressure on Peshawar, but Babar and Haris did well in the powerplay. After Haris's wicket, Peshawar did not find a batters who could score quickly. Multan spinners were excellent with the ball. They haven't given Babar or other batters any loose balls to play shorts. Babar's wicket was the turning point of the match. A target of 147 in the qualifier was not enough for the strong Multan Sultan batting lineup. Zalmi has another chance to qualify for the final. They have to rethink their strategy as a team.