PSL 2018 Eliminator 1: Peshawar Zalmi Vs Quetta Gladiators

1.   The first eliminator of this PSL went underway this year with two strong teams facing each other in Lahore. Quetta Gladiator were without their star players and were looking to replicate their last two seasons by reaching the finals while the defending champions Peshawar Zalmi had also high hopes.

2.   Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field first. Zalmi’s openers Kamran and Tamim set themselves on the crease. But, Rahat Ali gave Quetta a dream start by removing the last match’s centurion Kamran Akmal in the 2^nd over.

3.   Andre Fletcher looked dangerous but he could not hold out for long as Mir Hamza forced to hit the ball high and a stunning catch was taken by Perera on the boundary.

4.   Hafeez and Tamim now had to rebuild Zalmi’s innings and the pair added a valuable 44 to the total before Mahmudullah shattered Hafeez’s stumps to send him back to the pavilion.

5.   Tamim also could not hold out for long as he became a victim of Mohammad Nawaz’s exceptional bowling. Saad Nasim who had been in riveting form also got out after scoring 9 runs off 13 balls.

6.   Liam Dawson came to the crease with the intent to add runs to the Zalmi’s innings and he blazed 62 off 35 balls before Rahat Ali claimed his wicket along with Darren Sammy to further dent Zalmi’s innings.

7.   Zalmi were in need of a cameo to get them over 150 and Wahab Riaz fulfilled this need by scoring 15 off 7 balls to propel Zalmi to 157 in 20 overs.

8.   Quetta Gladiators now required 158 in 20 overs to seal their place in the final.

9. Darren Sammy’s men gathered on the ground with Quetta Openers taking their place on the pitch. The Pakistani pacer Hasan Ali struck on his first ball as he forced Asad Shafiq to give a simple a catch to Darren Sammy in the 2^nd slip.

10. Hasan Ali was in no mood to stop as he also removed the other opener in this 2^ndover and Quetta were now two wickets down.

11. But a solid rebuilding was done by Sarfraz and Nawaz as they shared a 63-run stand between them to give Quetta the upper hand in this game.

12. However, Darren Sammy’s plan worked brilliantly as he gave the ball to Sameen who removed both these batsmen in the 10^th over to shift the balance in his team’s favour.

13. With Quetta needing 78 runs, Mahmudullah and Rossouw built a 36-run partnership before Umaid Asif’s double strike in his fourth over sent both of them back to the pavilion.

14. Perera and Anwar Ali in particular struggled to get bat on ball and Perera finally fell to Whab Riaz as pressure had started to mount up on these two batsmen.

15. Quetta fans now expected something special from Hasan Khan (U-19 Pakistan’s captain) but he too fell to some fiery bowling by Wahab Riaz.

16. Peshawar now saw this victory in their reach as Quetta now required 25 runs in 6 balls.

17. The last over was given to Liam Dawson but Quetta were not going down so easily as the first two balls fetched ten for them all thanks to a four and six by Anwar Ali.

18. Furthermore, two sixes were hit by Anwar Ali and now Quetta needed three to win and two for a super over. However, Dawson bowled the right ball and Anwar Ali could not get enough bat on it which resulted in only 1 run.

19. Nail biting finish with luck favouring Peshawar Zalmi who won the match by 1 run and will meet Karachi in the race to the final against Islamabad United.

T Kohler-Cadmore

Asad Shafiq

Sarfraz Ahmed(c)

Mahmudullah

RR Rossouw

NTLC Perera

Anwar Ali

Mohammad Nawaz

Hasan Khan

Rahat Ali

Mir Hamza

Tamim Iqbal

Kamran Akmal

ADS Fletcher

Mohammad Hafeez

LA Dawson

Saad Nasim

Umaid Asif

DJG Sammy (c)

Hasan Ali

Wahab Riaz

Sameen Gul

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