Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 1 run and it was nothing like the match played on March 5, 2016, when the former team pulled off the same feat.
On Tuesday, the first play-off match of Pakistan Super League was played in Sharjah between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Gladiators scored 200 runs with the help of Ahmed Shehzad’s fiery knock of 71 runs off 38 balls. Kevin Pietersen scored 40 runs off 22 balls, the second highest score for the team.
Wahab Riaz proved vital for Zalmi as he managed to take 3 wickets including that of Shehzad. Hasan Ali was taken advantage of as he gave away 41 runs.
Zalmi began their innings slowly. They lost Kamran Akmal early in their innings. After the initial blip, DJ Malan and Mohammad Hafeez took charge of Zalmi’s batting attack and built a partnership of 139 runs off 72 balls. Gladiators’ left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz broke the partnership and then, in the end, went on to snatch three wickets in the last three balls of the game.
That sealed the seat for Gladiators in final.
Zalmi will now have to beat the winner of the second play-off match between Karachi Kings and Islamabad United in the eliminator on Friday to get a place in the final happening in Lahore.
