Quetta Gladiators defeated Karachi Kings by 5 wickets at the National Stadium, Karachi, off a last-ball heroic from Sherfane Rutherford.
The toss was won by Rilee Rossouw who elected to field first.
Shan Masood and Tim Seifert came out to open the innings on the second consecutive day. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hossain got the new ball. Shan’s wicket fell on the third ball, as he tried to make room on the off-side but got clean-bowled.
English batter James Vince hit Akeal for three boundaries in the third over, which kickstarted KK’s momentum. Fast bowler Sohail Khan got hammered for 15 runs in the 4th over, courtesy Seifert, which propelled KK.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed couldn’t contain the two hitters, as he was hit for three consecutive boundaries in the 5th over. The powerplay ended with KK standing at 61-1.
7th over was a revelation for off-spinner Usman Tariq who took two crucial wickets of Tim Seifert and James Vince.
Mohammad Nawaz hit Mohammad Wasim three consecutive boundaries in the 10th over which resulted in KK making 91-3 in 10 overs. Adding just 29 runs in the next 5 overs, KK lost the wickets of Shoaib Malik and Nawaz in this period.
Right-arm mystery spinner further dented the innings by taking two wickets in the 16th over; Abrar dismissed Kieron Pollard and Hasan Ali. KK’s emerging player, Irfan Khan Niazi, got caught at long-on in the 17th over which halted the innings even further.
Yesteryear’s hero, Anwar Ali, hit Wasim for two sixes in the final over which resulted in KK posting 165-8.
Quetta’s innings started with Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel opening the innings. Kings deployed Mohammad Nawaz as the first-over bowler. Roy hit Nawaz for three consecutive boundaries in the third over which helped them amass 34-0 in 3 overs.
Quetta lost their first wicket on the last ball of the powerplay. They made 57-1 in the first 6 overs; Saud fell for 24. Newcomer Khawaja Nafay got out in the 9th over when he tried to hit leg-spinner Zahid Mehmood over long-on.
QG’s ex-skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed fell to a brilliant catch from wicket-keeper Tim Seifert; QG finished the 10 overs at 83-3 with Roy bringing his 50 up with a six to Hasan Ali. Wily old fox, Shoaib Malik, got the wicket of Roy through a well-judged catch and bowled in the 12th over.
Two balls later, Irfan Khan Niazi proved that he has safe hands when he caught Rilee Rossouw at the mid-wicket boundary; QG went from 89-3 to 89-5. Gladiators reached the 15th over at 110-5; requiring 56 runs from the last five.
Rutherford went on a hitting spree in the death overs which enabled his team to win the match. He chased down 15 runs in Anwar Ali’s 20th over, 2 sixes, and 1 four, which helped QG get 2 more points.
Sherfane Rutherford was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock of 58*.
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