On Thursday night, Lahore Qalandars managed to beat Peshawar Zalmi by 10 runs in the 17th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021.
Peshawar Zalmi were chasing a target of 171 and Shoaib Malik stood firm after coming in to bat. He stayed on the wicket till the 19th over and scored the 65th half-century of his T20 career, but he couldn’t help his side win the game.
However, after losing the match, Shoaib Malik in his statement said, “After starting off well against Lahore Qalandars, Zalmi leaked too many runs in the death overs.”
“We leaked runs in death overs, as a team we were not expecting Lahore Qalandars to score around 170 and we missed the trick there, we should’ve done better,” Malik said.
“Rashid Khan’s bowling turned the table, it broke our back by taking all our important wickets. So, he was the key factor and difference between the two sides despite leaking runs in death overs,” said the former Pakistan captain.
“I have always played for my team’s cause and I will continue following this as long as I am playing cricket,” Shoaib Malik added.
“We did bowl well in the start but I think we missed availability of a wrist spinner in the middle overs. But at the same time, we must appreciate Ben Dunk and David who batted really well and also kept strike rate high to help LQ post a good total,” the 39-year-old player said.
He, however, added that the Zalmis are focused on playing their best game and execute whatever they would plan in the matches to come.
“Table looks very close and all the games are important, we need to be at our best in matches to come,” Malik concluded.
Note that Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan recorded his career-best figures in franchise T20 cricket, taking 5-20 off his four overs as Lahore Qalandars beat Peshawar Zalmi by 10 runs to extend their lead at the top of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 points table.
Toss
Zalmi won the toss and decided to bowl first.
PSL 2021 Schedule
Here you can check the updated remaining matches schedule list of PSL 2021.
| Date | Day | Night |
| 9-Jun | Lahore Qalandars v Islamabad United | |
| 10-Jun | Multan Sultans v Karachi Kings | Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars |
| 11-Jun | Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators | |
| 12-Jun | Quetta Gladiators v Peshawar Zalmi | |
| 13-Jun | Islamabad United v Lahore Qalandars | Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi |
| 14-Jun | Islamabad United v Karachi Kings | |
| 15-Jun | Quetta Gladiators v Lahore Qalandars | Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings |
| 16-Jun | Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators | |
| 17-Jun | Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars |
| 18-Jun | Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalandars | |
| 19-Jun | Quetta Gladiators v Karachi Kings | Multan Sultans v Islamabad United |
| 21-Jun | Qualifier (1 v 2) | Eliminator 1 (3 v 4) |
| 22-Jun | Eliminator 2 (loser Qualifier v winner Eliminator 1) | |
| 24-Jun | Final |
