Quetta remain unbeaten after a nail biting victory against Peshawar
The much-anticipated top of the table clash between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi was always going to be exciting as both teams remained unbeaten in the tournament so far. Quetta Gladiators won the toss and it was no surprise that they chose to field first once again. That decision paid dividends straight away as Zalmi’s dangerous openers, the ever consistent Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Hafeez failed to have much impact courtesy some tight bowling by Anwar Ali and Mohammad Nabi. Quetta’s bowling attack has been impressive throughout the tournament and this match was no different. Gladiators’ golden boy, Mohammad Nawaz came on to bowl in the 5th over and dismantled both batsmen with some clever bowling. First to perish was Tamim, who came down the track and lofted it to find Mohammad Nabi at deep midwicket. Two deliveries later, Hafeez miscued one towards Elton Chigumbura at square leg, as Nawaz’s dream start to the tournament continued.
Zulfiqar Babar picked up Kamran Akmal next in the 9th over and Zalmi were being bossed by Gladiators’ superb spin bowling. Dawid Malan was taking his time to find his rhythm as Shahid Yousaf joined him in the middle. Malan freed his arms and hit Gul for a six, before edging the next delivery to Sarfraz Ahmed. The crowd’s darling Shahid Afridi came out to the middle but was sent packing for naught after facing just two deliveries, bringing an end to a typical Afridi-esque innings. Things were looking pretty bleak for Zalmi but they were about to change as Darren Sammy came out to bat. Sammy tore apart Quetta’s bowlers one by one as he whacked them all over the park in a fine display of power hitting! He kept hitting sixes at will and resurrected Peshawar’s innings single handedly as he made 48 from 31 balls, helping Zalmi reach a respectable 135/7 from their allotted overs.
Ahmad Shehzad and Luke Wright opened the innings for the Gladiators, on the back of a record opening partnership in the HBL PSL in their previous match. They began to play their shots early on, with Ahmad Shehzad coming down the ground and using his feet well against Mohammad Asghar to hit him for six over long off. Luke Wright hit consecutive boundaries off Shaun Tait soon after and it seemed as if this would be another long partnership. Tait had other plans, as he forced an edge from Shehzad for an easy catch behind the stumps towards Akmal. Afridi bowled out Wright in the very next over, as he started his spell with a maiden and a wicket. Peshawar were off to a good start until Quetta’s skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed came out to bat. Along with Kevin Pietersen, Sarfraz worked the ball around steadily as the two tried to build a partnership. There was some confusion between the pair as they had some close calls with a few run out situations but had luck on their side.
Sarfraz became Afridi’s second victim as he went low to slog one for a big shot but found Dawid Malan at mid wicket instead. Mohammad Nawaz came on to face a fiery Wahab Riaz and dispatched him for a boundary, before beinga dismissed on the very next ball. With wickets falling at regular intervals, it was all up to the experienced Kevin Pietersen to take the Gladiators home. He kept the scoreboard ticking steadily as he lost another partner, the young Akbar Ur Rehman. With five overs remaining, Quetta needed 35 runs, which was certainly within their reach as long as Pietersen remained in the middle. He kept his cool and began to find the gaps with ease as Wahab claimed another wicket, this time of Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi in the 17th over. The big moment of the match came when Afridi took a great catch off Junaid’s bowling to claim the prized wicket of Kevin Pietersen, setting up a nail biting finish for the fans. With Elton Chigumbura and Anwar Ali on strike, Gladiators required 17 runs from the last two overs with three wickets in hand. Anwar hit Tait for a spectacular six in the second last over, and Chigumbura held his nerve to finish the job as he hit a crucial boundary off Wahab in the last over. Quetta sealed a much deserved victory by 3 wickets with only two balls to spare. They remain unbeaten in the league and are firmly on top of the table.
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