LAHORE: Jason Roy, the Quetta Gladiators opener, described his Pakistan Super League (PSL) record-breaking unbeaten 145 off 63 balls against Peshawar Zalmi as his “best T20 innings”, and the match itself, where 483 runs were scored in 38.2 overs, “a great advert for T20 cricket”. Roy broke Colin Ingram’s record (127 not out) for the highest individual score in the PSL, and helped Gladiators chase down 241 with eight wickets and ten balls to spare. He brought up his hundred in just 44 balls, the second-fastest century in the league, and scored nearly 76% of his runs in boundaries, smacking 20 fours and five sixes.
“This is my best T20 innings, no doubt about it,” Roy said after the match. “Obviously a great wicket and fast outfield, so it’s just a case of trying to hit as many four and sixes and get close to the total target and see where we are at. I am sure this will go down for me as one of the greatest, and it will definitely live for a long time in my memory. Anytime you are chasing over 200 and you chase that totally — doesn’t matter what the pitch is — it’s still an incredible feeling,” he said when asked about the pitch. “For me, in T20 cricket, this is my favourite-ever innings because I was there till the end. I think a lot of time when I am batting as an opening batsman, I could score a hundred and get out needing 20 runs but tonight I was there till the end, which is an incredible feeling as an opening batsman.”