Daily Times

Quetta Gladiators defeated Islamabad United by 3 wickets

In the eighth match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9, Quetta Gladiators defeated Islamabad United by 3 wickets. This is Quetta’s third consecutive success in the event.

Quetta Gladiators team achieved the target of 139 runs given by Islamabad United in the 19th over.

In this match played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Quetta Gladiators won the toss and invited Islamabad United to bat first.

On the United side, Alex Hales gave his team a smoky start by scoring 21 runs off 9 balls, while after his dismissal, Salman Ali Agha also scored 18 runs in the same over of Mohammad Hasnain.

On this occasion, it was felt that the Islamabad United team would put up a big total on the board, but the Quetta Gladiators bowlers made a brilliant comeback and stopped the pace of Islamabad United batsmen making runs.

A partnership of 40 runs was formed between Salman Ali Agha and Colin Munro, but Colin Munro got out first on a total of 69. After that, the wickets of Islamabad United’s batsmen started falling like autumn leaves.

Captain Shadab Khan on 72, Azam Khan on 80, Salman Ali Agha scoring 33 runs on 87, Imad Wasim scoring 9 runs on 105, Jordan Cox scoring 19 runs on 118 were out.

In the closing moments of the match, thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s 20 runs, the Islamabad United team could score 138 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Gladiators’ mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed took 3 important wickets by conceding only 18 runs in the quota of 4 overs.

Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim also showed great bowling and dismissed 3 players by giving 20 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Among the other players of Quetta, Akil Hussain took 2 wickets while Muhammad Hasnain took one wicket.

In pursuit of the target, Jason Roy of Quetta Gladiators also adopted an aggressive mood and played an innings of 37 runs, but the series of wickets started falling at the other end. Saud Shakeel returned to the pavilion scoring 2 runs, Khawaja Nafi 9, Sarfaraz Ahmed 1.

The team of Quetta Gladiators lost 4 wickets for 54 runs, then captain Riley Russo and Sherfin Rutherford made a partnership of 62 runs and led their team towards victory.

Sharafin Rutherford, who scored 29 runs for a total of 116 runs, was bowled by Naseem Shah, while newcomers Aqeel Hussain 8 and Mohammad Wasim were guests for 1 run.

Mohammad Amir remained not out by scoring 6 runs, while the captain Riley Russo at the other end played an unbeaten innings of 34 runs and played a key role in helping his team reach the target.

Quetta Gladiators captain Riley Russo was awarded the man of the match award for his match winning innings.

In this match, no changes were made in the team of Quetta Gladiators, while two changes were made in the team of United.

In Islamabad United, Hunain Shah replaced Obaid Shah while Roman Raees replaced Tymal Mills as part of the final XI.