Babar Azam was at his free-flowing best during his 11th T20 ton.

Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi:

In an extremely topsy-turvy game of T20 cricket, Peshawar Zalmi registered their third win on the trot with a stupendous eight-run win over Islamabad United in Lahore on Monday (February 26). Babar Azam produced a masterly ton (111* off 63) to set it all up for Peshawar but Islamabad were running away with the chase through Azam Khan (75 off 30) and Colin Munro (71 off 53) before a four-wicket over from Arif Yaqoob (5-27) turned the game upside down in sensational fashion. It was a damage from which Islamabad couldn't recover from.

On another good batting surface, Islamabad United opted to bowl but Peshawar were off the blocks in a flash once more through their opening pair. Saim Ayub continued from where he had left off last night against Lahore with another breezy knock (38 off 21) while Babar also looked switched on from ball one. They couldn't produce another century stand but the partnership of 77 gave Peshawar the perfect platform for another big total. However, Islamabad fought back through spin to pick up a flurry of wickets through the middle overs.

Agha Salman started things off with the big wicket of Ayub while Shadab Khan took out Mohammad Haris and Haseebullah Khan in quick succession as Peshawar slipped from 77/0 to 80/3 in no time. Paul Walter struck a few blows and looked set for an impactful knock before an error in judging a run cost him his wicket. Rovman Powell didn't last long either and Peshawar's innings looked like it would implode, like it had against Karachi Kings. Coincidentally, that was also a game where Babar was well-set as wickets fell around him. Unlike that game, though, today the Peshawar skipper batted right through and went big.

It was Babar in full flow as he took apart all of Islamabad's bowlers to single-handedly drive Peshawar towards an imposing total. Asif Ali, despite his powerhitting prowess, was reduced to a support act as he only contributed 17 in the unbroken 77-run stand with Babar. The partnership gave Peshawar serious momentum with Islamabad's bowlers missing their mark far too often at the death. To his credit, Babar rarely missed out on a scoring opportunity and also converted some accurate deliveries into boundary balls.

The chase of 202 wasn't out of reach, even if the surface seemed a tad slower than in the previous game against Lahore. Babar's bowlers were right on the money with the new ball and used the sluggish nature of the pitch to good effect, giving away just 45 runs in the powerplay while also picking up a big scalp of Jordan Cox. It turned out to be another failure for Shadab who did promote himself to no.3 but to no avail. Colin Munro continued to dig in even though he looked far from fluent. When Agha Salman fell in the tenth over, Islamabad needed 129 more from 63 deliveries - a mammoth challenge.

That's when Azam came to the party with his free-spirited brand of powerhitting. The intent and ball-striking were in sync, and the onslaught took Peshawar by surprise. It also rubbed off on Munro who started to find his range as well, resulting in a carnage that made a mockery of the run chase in no time. Fours and sixes were flowing from the blade of both batters as they added 108 off just 51 deliveries with Azam being the dominant partner. The equation came down to 21 off 13, and with seven wickets left on a decent batting deck, Islamabad seemed to be all but home. It wasn't to be.

Azam fell to Naveen-ul-Haq off a rare miscue to give Peshawar some respite before Babar took a massive punt for the penultimate over. Leggie Yakoob has been amongst the wickets this season for Peshawar and had also picked up a couple earlier in the innings but it was a gamble to bowl the 19th over against Islamabad's powerhitters. It was, however, a battle that Yakoob triumphed in, striking four times while giving away just two runs. The game had turned in sensational fashion and before they could realise what had happened, Islamabad had choked. Salman Irshad had 18 to defend in the final over and did it quite comfortably to seal a special win for Peshawar.

Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi 201/5 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 111*; Shadab Khan 2-28) beat Islamabad United 193-9 in 20 overs (Azam Khan 75, Colin Munro 75; Arif Yakoob 5-27) by eight runs.