DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, – West Indies opener Chris Gayle failed with a first ball ‘duck’ as his Lahore Qalanders lost their second straight game in the Pakistan Super League with a heavy nine-wicket defeat to Peshawar Zalmi here yesterday.
The left-hander was bowled by left-arm seamer Junaid Khan off the first ball of the contest at Dubai International Stadium and his dismissal set the tone for the innings, which ambled to 117 for six off 20 overs.
In fact, Qalanders lost Cameron Delport also without scoring off the third ball of the innings to be two down without a run on the board. And when wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan perished in the second over for four, Qalanders were rocking at four runs for three wickets.
However, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo came to his side’s rescue with a top score of 32 off 31 balls while captain and opener Azhar Ali chimed in with 31 off 41 deliveries.
Bravo struck two fours and a six and posted a crucial 44 for the sixth wicket with Hammad Azam who made 18 not out. Zalmi then cruised to their target with four overs left, with opener Tamim Iqbal stroking an unbeaten 55 off 47 deliveries. He put on 95 off 68 balls for the first wicket with Mohammed Hafeez who struck 43 from 37 balls.
In yesterday’s other game, West Indies opener Lendl Simmons failed as Karachi Kings slipped to an eight-wicket loss to Quetta Gladiators.
The right-handed Simmons scored 11 in Kings’ 147 for seven off their 20 overs. Englishman Ravi Bopara top-scored with 40 from 29 balls.
Opener Ahmed Shehzad then blasted 71 from 46 balls with five fours and four sixes to fire Gladiators to a comfortable win with 16 balls remaining.
