KARACHI: Captain Shoaib Malik led Peshawar Zalmi to a five-wicket victory against Quetta Gladiators in the second match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the National Stadium in Karachi, opening their tournament on a positive note.
Shoaib Malik remained unbeaten on 48 off 32 balls, while middle-order batter Hussain Talat scored a much-needed half-century (52) off 29 balls.
Gladiator’s innings
Openers William Smeed and Ahsan Ali had earlier punished COVID-hit Peshawar Zalmi and helped Quetta Gladiators put up a massive 190/4 score on the board.
Will Smeed made 97 off 62 balls, with the help of 11 fours and four sixes, while Ahsan Ali smashed 73 off 46 balls. The powerplay was sensational for the Gladiators as they managed to amass 62 runs.
Till the 16th over, the Gladiators were sailing smoothly, and both the batters did not leave any opportunity to punish the Zalmi bowlers. The openers made a 151-run opening stand.
However, Usman Qadir finally came to work and got the first wicket of Ahsan Ali. In the same over, he picked up the scalp of Ben Duckett, who was dismissed for nill.
The Gladiators moved on as Smeed stood his ground to play an exceptional inning. Iftikhar Ahmed (8) was dismissed in the 20th over. In the last ball of the innings, Smeed was also caught out as he tried to hit a boundary to get a ton but failed. Sameen Gul and Usman Qadir took two wickets for Zalmi.
Playing XI:
Peshawar Zalmi: Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Yasir Khan, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik (c), Hussain Talat, Sherfane Rutherford, Ben Cutting, Sohail Khan, Pat Brown, Sameen Gul, Usman Qadir
Quetta Gladiators: Will Smeed, Ahsan Ali, Ben Duckett, Sarfaraz Ahmed(c)(wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Tanvir, James Faulkner, Ashir Qureshi, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Head to Head:
The two sides have established themselves as formidable opponents throughout PSL’s history. Both teams have met 17 times and Zalmi have a small edge with nine victories against Quetta Gladiators’ eight.
Four matches have been played between the two teams at the National Stadium, with each team claiming two victories.
