Daily Times

SHARJAH: An injured Darren Sammy single-handedly steered Peshawar Zalmi to a brilliant five-wicket victory in a nail-biting finish in their Pakistan Super League III match against Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah Stadium here on Thursday night. After being put into bat first, Quetta were in a strong position and at one stage were looking to score in excess of 150 with ease. In the first 10 overs, Quetta scored 68 runs for the loss of three wickets. Despite playing steadily through their first 15 overs, Quetta lost their footing when the time came to accelerate. However, a poor display in the last five overs meant Sarfraz Ahmed-led unit finished with just 141 for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs. All-rounder Shane Watson finished the innings with the top score of 47 off 32 balls with the help of one four and five sixes. Rilee Rossouw was the second leading scorer for Quetta as he scored 37 off 25 deliveries. For Peshawar, pacers Umaid Asif and Wahab Riaz claimed two wickets each.

Chasing 142, Peshawar had seemed on course for much of the innings, led by a disciplined – if a little sedate – 54-run partnership between Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Hafeez. But with 35 required off the last five, the partnership was broken, and suddenly the chase went into disarray. Brilliant bowling and top class captaincy of Sarfraz turned the game on its head and when Sammy, who injured himself while bowling in the first half, arrived to bat, his team needed 17 off eight balls. But the 34-year-old, who till date is the only captain to won two World T20 titles, scored 16 off just four balls to take his team over the line, for which he also named player of the match. Sammy smashed two sixes and one four in the four balls he faced, ensuring a much-needed victory for his side with two balls to spare. “I just needed to hit three sixes, that’s what I told the coach,” Sammy said after winning the man-of-the-match award, adding that it was a “great feeling to make the team win.”

Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi 143 for 5 (Tamim Iqbal 36, Darren Sammy 16 not out) beat Quetta Gladiators 141 for 8 (Shane Watson 47, Wahab Riaz 2-16, Umaid Asif 2-18) by five wickets.

Today’s matches (Saturday, March 3)

13th Match – Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah Cricket Stadium at 04:30 PM PST

14th Match – Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars at Sharjah Cricket Stadium at 09:00 PM PST

Published in Daily Times, March 3^rd 2018.