[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]Quetta Gladiators had their moments. They battled to win fights, but Peshawar Zalmi ultimately prevailed in their HBL Pakistan Super League match on Monday at Karachi’s National Stadium.
Quetta, who had earlier defeated Karachi Kings, managed to post a respectable target of 155 against Peshawar Zalmi, who were still smarting after their embarrassing loss to Multan Sultans.
But, Peshawar made sure they never stopped hitting after Quetta pacer Mohammad Hasnain had struck twice on successive balls to counter Mohammad Haris’ early onslaught.
Jimmy Neesham and Rovman Powell put the team on track for a four-wicket victory with a 46-run partnership off 30 balls, then Wahab Riaz and Dasun Shanaka finished off Hasnain and his pace partner Naseem Shah’s two outstanding overs to help the side win.
Before Hasnain arrived to damage them, Haris’ scorching performance early on gave Peshawar’s pursuit a lift.
The opener drove Shah past extra cover for his first boundary before flicking spinner Mohammad Nawaz aside for three straight fours in the following over, during which Babar Azam also made his maiden boundary.
Nevertheless, after Hasnain was brought on in the following over, Haris (18 off 9) became the first casualty, missing yet another big hit before Saim Ayub was trapped by the right-armer.
Although giving up two boundaries to Tom Kohler-Cadmore to end what could have been a perfect over, Hasnain came back to dismiss the Englishman in the fifth over, with Shah collecting a good catch at the third man boundary.
Peshawar was flying at 53-3 by the end of the powerplay.
Powell cleared long on against Qais Ahmed after lifting Shah for a straight four. Azam made a threat to compound Quetta’s problems by sweeping Nawaz on the opening ball of the eighth over, but was ruled out following a review on the subsequent ball that had a straighter arm.
The newcomer Neesham made sure that Nawaz received little value for the wicket by reverse sweeping for a four before Abdul Wahid Bangalzai’s feeble attempt to field at long-on.
In the 12th over, Powell crushed Odean Smith through the covers for four runs, helping Peshawar reach their 100-run mark. Three balls later, the right-hander delivered a monster six, adding further salt to Quetta’s wounds.
Shah, however, wasn’t prepared to allow his squad lose control of the game entirely. Powell’s stumps (36 off 23) were destroyed with a yorker that timed in at 141 kph.
Shah (38 off 23), on the other hand, persisted and virtually single-handedly swung the balance of the game in Peshawar’s favour with a six and two fours from Qais in the 15th over, right before he was bowled for 37 off 23 by Nawaz at deep wicket.
The duo of Shah and Hasnain, who were instrumental in Quetta defeating Karachi, were at it once more. Shah just allowed two runs in the subsequent over before his speed partner delivered an outstanding maiden.
With just 19 runs needed for Peshawar to win in 18 balls with the duo’s allotted number of overs used up, Nawaz and Smith gave up three more fours to end the game.
Previously, Quetta had trouble playing freely and was down 28-1 at the end of the powerplay after opener Martin Guptill, who had previously struck a century, was bowled out by Neesham a ball before his partner Jason Roy went out due to a straighter ball from a leg-spinner.
As Mohammad Nawaz was trapped lbw by Usman two overs later, Quetta was in serious difficulty and at the midway point, they were down to 42-3.
To get a respectable total, the side needed Iftikhar Ahmed and captain Sarfraz Ahmed to combine for 75 runs off of 50.
In his 30-ball innings for 35 runs, Sarfraz only hit five boundaries before being bowled out by a yorker from bowler Arshad Iqbal.
On the other side, Iftikhar was more explosive.
When the strong right-hander heaved the senior pacer for his second six over square leg as the audience screamed “Chacha, Chacha,” alluding to Iftikhar’s well-known moniker, Riaz must have been thinking of his six sixes in the recent exhibition match between two sides in Quetta.
On the opening ball of the 16th over, when the side had reached 100 runs, Iftikhar flipped Iqbal off his hips for a four and then crushed the right-armer over long on for another six.
Shanaka dropped the oncoming Odean Smith at square leg off Neesham. The West Indies hitter scored three straight fours in the same over to celebrate.
In the final over, Iftikhar hit a single off Iqbal to reach 50 off 33 balls. Smith, who returned unbeaten at 25 off 12, launched a low full toss that zipped past the long on boundary to help Quetta reach 150. He then found a four past short fine leg to end the session.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
