Long-haired Wiese rocks it for Qalandars

Dubai - The South African clubs a six off the penultimate delivery as Lahore beat Peshawar Zalmi

Allrounder David Wiese clubbed a six off the penultimate ball as the Lahore Qalandars pulled off a thrilling win over Peshawar Zalmi in the 24th match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Tuesday night.
With eight runs required from the last over and then needing five from two, Wiese, with the rockstar long-haired look, smacked medium pacer Carlos Brathwaite over long on as the Qalandars wrapped up a five-wicket victory at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
It was their fourth win and third on the trot and it vaulted them to third on the table behind leaders Multan Sultans and the Zalmis. Their previous two wins were against basement dweller Quetta Gladiators and the Karachi Kings. Qalandars' first victory of this edition was against the Gladiators.
This was only the second time that the Qalandars had won three games on the bounce in PSL history and it was all the sweeter considering it was only their second victory over the Zalmis in 10 matches between the two. It was also their first win chasing against the Zalmis with their previous victory having come batting first.
Qalandars' victory also cut short the run of Zalmis, who were on a sequence of two wins.
Qalandars made a flurry of changes bringing in Dilbar Hussain, Haris Rauf and Chris Lynn for Dane Vilas, Usman Shinwari and Salman Irshad.
The Zalmis, meanwhile, made one change, Lewis Gregory replacing Imam-ul-Haq.
Told to have first dig, Zalmi posted a competitive 187 for seven with Haider Ali top scoring with 69 from 43 deliveries that was studded with six sixes and an equal number of boundaries.
Shoaib Malik continued his rich vein of form, striking his third half-century of this season's PSL. The former Pakistan captain coshed a 43-ball 62 that was peppered with seven boundaries and two sixes.
Left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi snaffled three wickets, those of opening bat Tom Banton, Gregory and Zalmis new captain Wahab Riaz.
Samit Patel gave Afridi able support by picking up two wickets.
Opener Fakhar Zaman laid the roadmap for the Qalandars by making a fluent 63 off 46 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes. He was also involved in a 50-run opening stand with his skipper Sohail Akhtar, who scored 21 from 19.
Zaman and Chris Lynn then put on 96 valuable runs for the second wicket with the latter rock solid in a 32-ball 59, that contained six boundaries and three sixes.
Wiese and Samit Patel then saw the Qalandars through a nervy chase.
Brief scores:
Peshawar Zalmi: 187 for 7 in 20 overs (Haider Ali 69, Shoaib Malik 62, Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-28, Samit Patel 2-37) lost to Lahore Qalandars: 189 for 5 in 19.5 overs (Fakhar Zaman 63, Chris Lynn 59, Carlos Brathwaite 3-28) by 5 wickets.
Man of the Match: Fakhar Zaman (Qalandars).
james@khaleejtimes.com