Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam has admitted his side fell short in all departments during their crushing 64-run defeat to Quetta Gladiators in the 17th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 10 at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
Put in to bat first, the Gladiators posted a competitive 178/7, driven by a team effort.
Mark Chapman top-scored with 33 off 26 deliveries, supported by Saud Shakeel and Kusal Mendis, both contributing steady 32s. Finn Allen provided an explosive start, hammering 31 off just 16 balls.
For Zalmi, Alzarri Joseph led the bowling attack with three wickets, while Saim Ayub picked up two.
In reply, Zalmi’s batting crumbled, bowled out for 114 in just 15.2 overs. Hussain Talat fought a lone battle with a resilient 39 off 34 balls, striking four boundaries and two sixes.
Apart from Talat, only Babar Azam (12), Mohammad Haris (17), and Mitchell Owen (15) managed double figures in an otherwise dismal chase.
Reflecting on the defeat, Babar Azam candidly acknowledged that Zalmi failed to execute their game plans effectively.
“I think we weren’t quite up to the mark in both batting and bowling,” Babar said after the match.
“We failed to execute our plans as we should have. We’ll sit down, analyse what went wrong, and make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes moving forward.”
With the competition heating up, Babar stressed that Zalmi’s focus now must shift to learning from mistakes and regrouping quickly as the race for the playoffs tightens in the six-team tournament.
