Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi in a closely fought contest in the second match of PSL at the Gaddafi Stadium and clinched a victory by 16 runs.
Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first but Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel stormed the innings with their brute force in the first 15 overs and amassed a humungous partnership of 157 runs, both the batters thrashed the Zalmi bowlers all across the park.
Saud Shakeel got his first opportunity in the PSL for Quetta Gladiators after sitting in the dug out for past 33 matches and notched up his debut fifty, while scoring 74 runs off 47 balls. The left hander scored 4 sixes and 6 fours in the innings. Roy on the other hand played steady innings and anchored the innings, scoring 75 runs off 48 balls.
The left handed Pakistani opener survived early on in the innings as Saim Ayub did not catch the ball cleanly and the DRS confirmed that the ball grazed the ground first
Skipper Rilee Rossouw and pinch hitter Sherfane Rutherford helped the Gladiators reach a formidable score of 206-5 at the end of the first innings.
Peshawar Zalmi’s Rawalakot-born bowler Salman Irshad was the pick of the bowlers as he finished his spell of 3-38 and stopped the Gladiators from getting past a total of 225 with his supreme death bowling.
Quetta with a sensational win!#KhulKeKhel #ProSports #PSL9 #HBLPSL9 pic.twitter.com/lVrDEJywC1
— ProPakistani (@ProPakistaniPK) February 18, 2024
In reply, Saim Ayub and Babar Azam notched up a quick 91 run partnership in just 8.4 overs and set the stage for the middle order batters to bring the Zalmi home.
A miscommunication between the two batters resulted in a mix up and Saim Ayub threw his wicket away due to a runout by PSL debutant Khwaja Naffay
The Zalmi skipper played a masterful knock in the second innings and scored 68 runs off just 42 balls, Babar also completed 3000 runs in his 78th PSL innings.
Gladiators’ mystery spinner changed the game on its head as he removed the dangerous Babar Azam and right handed batter Tom Kohler Cadmore in the 16th over. The wicket was extremely helpful for the spinners as both Abrar Ahmed and Akeal Hossein got wickets from the surface.
Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Wasim’s supreme death bowling antics helped Quetta gladiators seal the victory against their arch rivals Peshawar Zalmi.
Saud Shakeel was named man of the match for his first ever fifty in PSL, as Quetta bagged their first 2 points in PSL season 9.
Karachi Kings will now take on Multan Sultans in the third match of PSL in the Multan Stadium at 7pm.
Check out the points table and live score here.
