West Indies speedster Alzarri Joseph lit up the stage as he delivered a match-winning performance that powered Peshawar Zalmi to a commanding seven-wicket victory over Lahore Qalandars in their Pakistan Super League clash at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.

Joseph, whose fiery spells have long unsettled batters across formats, turned in a devastating three for 15 from four overs, including a rare maiden, to dismantle the Qalandars top and middle order in dramatic fashion. It was a spell that earned him Player of the Match honours and helped swing the momentum of Zalmi’s campaign, lifting them to fourth in the standings with their second win in five outings.

Zalmi skipper Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bowl, a decision swiftly vindicated by Joseph and his supporting cast. The tall Antiguan quick, steaming in with venom, shared the early spoils with Luke Wood (2-25) and Hussain Talat (2-18) as the home side crumbled to 129 all out in 19.2 overs.

The tone was set early when the Qalandars batting was left in tatters at 21-4, courtesy of a Joseph-led rampage. Only a gutsy 52 off 37 balls from Sikandar Raza, who was celebrating his birthday, gave the Qalandars something to cheer about. Raza shepherded the tail in a knock that had five fours and three sixes and momentarily revived hope, as he targeted the likes of Arif Yaqoob and Mitchell Owen before Joseph’s clinical 18th over choked the life out of the innings.

In reply, Zalmi had a stutter of their own, as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf struck in the opening exchanges, removing Saim Ayub (two) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (zero) in a fiery burst that briefly had the home crowd on its feet. Mohammad Haris (20) also fell to Afridi.

But that excitement was short-lived.

From 40-3, Zalmi’s chase was steadied, and then stylishly finished, by a classy, unbroken 93-run partnership between captain Babar Azam and the versatile Hussain Talat. The pair took their time to weather the storm before smoothly guiding the team to 133-3 in 16.4 overs. Babar scored 52 off 42 balls in a knock that had seven fours and one six, while Talat finished unbeaten on 51 off 37 balls, including five fours and one six.

The loss marked Qalandars’ third defeat of the season and their first at home, as they remain third on the table, tied on four points just ahead of Zalmi on net run rate.