ABU DHABI (92 News) – Quetta Gladiators beat Peshawar Zalmi by eight wickets in the 23rd match of Pakistan Super League's (PSL) fourth edition in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Gladiators chased the 166-run target within 17.4 overs with loss of only two wickets. The Watson show comes to an end! He's played some strong hands in this tournament, with scores of 81* and 61 previously, but this was the best of the lot.
Watson unbeaten 91 has turned what could have been a tricky chase into a very simple one. He was well supported by Ahmed Shehzad, who didn't look at his best but nonetheless contributed 50 to a match-winning 129-run stand.
Opener Shane Watson’s unbeaten 91 run-innings overshadowed Kamran Akmal’s half-century as Quetta Gladiators slammed down Darren Sammy's Peshawar Zalmi by eight wickets.
First Innings
Peshawar Zalmi set 166-run target for Quetta Gladiators. Opener Kamran Akmal and Kieron Pollard helped Peshawar Zalmi to set a reasonable target against Quetta Galadiators. Akmal scored 72 runs at 50 balls while Kieron Pollard bagged 44 score at 21 balls as not-out.
It wasn't entirely fluent, but Kamran Akmal’s 72 set up Zalmi’s innings, and Pollard’s unbeaten 44 finishes it off. Despite the small boundaries, this wasn't the easiest track to score quickly on, especially to the spinners, with Fawad Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz taking a combined 2 for 49 in eight overs. But Zalmi have reached what looks like a par score. Join us in a few minutes for the chase.
Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 44 runs innings with seven boundaries contributed substantive runs during the death overs of the game.
Despite the small boundaries, this wasn't the easiest track to score quickly on, especially to the spinners, with Fawad Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz taking a combined 2 for 49 in eight overs.
Muhammad Hasnain and DJ Bravo took one-wicket each.
Earlier, Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field against Peshawar Zalmi.
Had Zalmi had a few more spinners to turn to, and had they held their catches, the result could have been different. But as it is, this win takes Gladiators to the top of the points table.
The 23rd match started
at 4:30 pm on Monday at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Zalmi and Gladiators are on equal points at 10 from seven matches each, but Peshawar is placed at number-one due to their better net run-rate. Peshawar has a net run-rate of 0.85 as compared to Quetta’s 0.08.
This means the winner of this match will be assured of a place in the play-offs.
Quetta Gladiators were off to a great start, winning their first four games before losing the next two. But on Friday, they thumped Multan Sultans to return to the winning ways.
Peshawar Zalmi clinched a last-ball thriller against Islamabad with Liam Dawson hitting the winning boundary off Mohammad Sami. In that regard, Peshawar has shown remarkable quality of playing well under pressure.
Peshawar will hope their opener Kamran Akmal returns to his best as his only notable score to date has been 49. He did become the first batsman in HBL PSL history to complete 1,000 runs during his 19-run innings against Islamabad, but Peshawar would hope of more from him in the business end of the league.
Quetta have won all their games while chasing and their two losses have come batting first. So, Peshawar would again like to put them into bat after winning the toss. Only one team has batted first after winning the toss in the 22 HBL PSL matches to date.
Kamran’s younger brother, Umar, has also lost his run-scoring form after a bright start to the tournament. But, Quetta also have Shane Watson (226 runs in seven games) and Rilee Rossouw who both give their team solidity at the top and in the middle.
Both Peshawar and Quetta have good pace attacks, Peshawar gets the bits from Hasan Ali (18 wickets in the league so far) and Quetta from Sohail Tanvir who has 12 wickets in seven matches.
Squads:
Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran Akmal, ADS Fletcher, Sohaib Maqsood, Misbah-ul-Haq, Keiron Pollard, LA Dawson, Darren Sammy (captain), Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Umaid Asif, Sameen Gul, Imam-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, WL Madson, DJ Malan, Ibtisam Sheikh.
Quetta Gladiators: Shane Watson, Ahmed Shehzad, Rilee Rossouw, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Dwaynr Smith, Mohammad Nawaz, Ghulam Mudassar, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Fawad Ahmed, Ahsan Ali, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Saud Shakeel.
Points table (ahead of today’s matches)
| Teams |
Mat |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
NoResult |
Aban |
BonusPts |
Points |
Net R |
| Peshawar Zalmi |
7 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0.852 |
| Quetta Gladiators |
7 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0.085 |
| Islamabad United |
8 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0.120 |
| Lahore Qalandars |
7 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
-0.341 |
| Karachi Kings |
7 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
-0.580 |
| Multan Sultans |
8 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
-0.119 |
Upcoming matches:
4 March (March No.23) – Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators, Abu Dhabi (match starts 430pm PST)
4 March (Match No.24) – Karachi Kings v Multan Sultans, Abu Dhabi (match starts 9pm PST)
5 March (Match No.25) – Lahore Qalandars v Peshawar Zalmi, Abu Dhabi (match starts 430pm PST)
5 March (Match No.26) – Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators, Abu Dhabi (match starts 9pm PST).
