LAHORE – Quetta Gladiators made a flying start in Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9 journey with their first win against Peshawar Zalmi at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
Yellow Storm spearheaded by Babar Azam struggled to chase a big target of 207-run as Purple Force put in remarkable effort in the death overs to ensure their maiden win.
Skipper Babar Azam was the top scorer with 68 runs, he slammed eight boundaries but his side fell 17 runs short of the mammoth target set by Rossouw-led Quetta Gladiators.
Young talent Saim Ayub and Babar Azam displayed top skills on the crease as they were heading towards 100 for no loss. Quetta managed to get a breakthrough in ninth over due to little misunderstanding between batters.
Saim returned to the pavilion after scoring 42 runs after getting run out leaving his 91-1 in 8.4 overs. Haris was next to get under on mere 7 runs. Skipper however remained on crease but was caught by Mohammad Wasim Jr.
Zalmi wickets then kept falling as Gladiators’ bowlers restricted them to 190 for six wickets, winning the match by 16 runs.
In first innings, power hitter Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel punished Zalmi’s bowler, stitching 157-run partnership. Shakeel returned on 74. Skipper Rossouw joined the party and hit the six off first ball.
For Zalmi, Irshad led the bowling side with figures of 3-38, while Luke Wood and Zeeshan got one scalp each.
Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and invited Quetta Gladiators to bat first in the second match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9 at Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore.
Playing XIs:
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (wk), Mohammad Haris, Rovman Powell, Asif Ali, Haseebullah Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Aamer Jamal, Salman Irshad, Waqar Salamkheil.
Quetta Gladiators: Jason Roy, Khawaja Nafay, Rilee Rossouw (c), Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Amir.
