A thrilling match was played between Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United in the 12th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 at the National Stadium (Karachi) on Tuesday (March 2) night. Islamabad United beat their opponents Quetta Gladiators by 6 wickets.
The match was scheduled to be held on March 1 and was postponed after Islamabad United’s Australian spinner Fawad Ahmed tested positive for the Covid-19 test. After the rest of the players of the two teams were negative in the test, it was decided to hold the match on March 2.
Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan decided to field after winning the toss and sent the Quetta Gladiators to bat first.
Coming down to bat first, Gladiators opener Saim Ayub fell victim to Hasan Ali in the 5th ball of the 1st over after losing the toss. Before recovering from that shock, another opener Cameron Delport returned to the dressing room being bowled off Faheem Ashraf in the 3rd over. The Gladiators were knocked out of the match after losing 4 wickets for 41 runs at the end of six overs as a result of the regular wicket-taking by United bowlers. With the great spell of Faheem Ashraf, the batsmen of Gladiators lost their wickets and could not accelerate the pace of scoring. The Gladiators then returned to the match in captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s defensive batting. The batsman made 54 off 41 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. In the end, the Gladiators collected a respectable score of 156 runs on an unbeaten 31-run inning off 29 balls by Mohammad Nawaz. Faheem Ashraf was the most successful bowler for the United (3-11, 4 overs).
United opener Paul Stirling attacked the Gladiators’ bowlers from the starting of their chase. In the fifth over, the batsman picked up his fifty off 21 balls by smashing a six off Mohammad Hasnain. United lost one wicket in six overs of the power play and scored 76 runs for his batting prowess. Paul Stirling then returned to the pavilion for a personal 56, but the Gladiators’ bowlers could not stop the run wheel. As a result, United reached the target of 156 runs with 3 overs left. Zahid Mahmood was the highest wicket-taker for the Gladiators (2-29, 4 overs).
After winning this match, Islamabad United has moved up to second place in the points table. Quetta Gladiators are at the bottom of the points table with their fourth consecutive defeat on the other hand.
Playing XIs:
Quetta Gladiators – Saim Ayub, Faf du Plessis, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Cameron Delport, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mahmood, Naseem Shah, Dale Steyn, Mohammad Hasnain
Islamabad United – Paul Stirling, Shadab Khan (c), Rohail Nazir (wk), Asif Ali, Alex Hales, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Musa, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr
Scoreboard:
Quetta Gladiators – 156/7 (20.0)
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Saim, 0.5 over), 2-21 (Delport, 2.1 over), 3-27 (Plessis, 3.3 over), 4-41 (Azam, 5.5 over), 5-71 (Cutting, 9.5 over), 6-134 (Sarfaraz, 16.4 over), 7-152 (Zahid, 19.5 over)
Islamabad United – 157/4 (17)
Fall of wickets: 1-76 (Hales, 5.5 over), 2-93 (Stirling, 9.3 over), 3-130 (Nazir, 14.3 over), 4-143 (Shadab, 16.1 over)
Result – Islamabad United won by 6 wickets
Player of the Match – Faheem Ashraf
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