Peshawar Zalmi scrape past Gladiators
lahore — Peshawar Zalmi held their nerves to pull off a thrilling one-run win against Quetta Gladiators in the Qualifier match of the Pakistan Super League on Tuesday in front of a packed Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.
Needing 25 to win from six balls, Anwar Ali almost played a heroic innings hitting Liam Dawson for three sixes and one four. Quetta needed three to win from the last ball and Anwar gave Dawson the charge only to hole out to Umaid Asif at long on who dropped the sitter but was quick to pick the ball and throw it back to the bowler who got Mir Hamza run out.
Earlier, Hasan conceded only two runs as the asking rate jumped to over 14. And, Wahab Riaz took two in the 19th over, including danger man Thisara Perera to seal the fate of the match in Zalmi’s favour.
First seamer Sameen Gul changed the momentum in Peshawar’s favour with two wickets in two balls, as Quetta slumped to 80 for 4 at the half way mark.
Mohammed Nawaz (35, 32 balls, five 4s and one 6) and Sarfraz Ahmed (35, 21 balls, three 4s, two 6s) had rescued Gladiators after both the openers (Asad Shafiq and T KohlerCadmore) fell early. Nawaz and Sarfraz added 63 runs in 45 balls as they put Quetta back on track before Sameen changed the course.
Then Umid Asif accounted for two wickets in the space of two balls in the 16th over to further ignite Zalmi hopes.
Earlier, Rahat Ali worked up a good pace on an easy wicket to restrict Peshawar Zalmi to 157, which Darren Sammy’s men would have loved to be more but lost the plot after rain interrupted in the first over.
While Rahat picked up four wickets for 16 runs in his quota of four overs, Quetta’s ‘left-arm spinning twins’ Hasan Khan and Mohammad Nawaz kept a tight leash on the Peshawar batsmen in the middle overs to keep the scoring rate in control.
The centurion in Zalmi’s do-ordie league match in Sharjah, Kamran Akmal lasted only three balls and had to return to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. Five balls later, Thisara Perera, who came into this match in place of Shane Watson, took a spectacular running catch at the nid-on boundary to give left-arm seamer Mir Hamza his only wicket.