Opener Shane Watson’s unbeaten 91-run knock overshadowed Kamran Akmal’s half-century as Sarfraz Ahmed-led Quetta Gladiators slammed down Darren Sammy’s Peshawar Zalmi by eight wickets.
Watson was supported by Ahmad Shahzad, who didn’t look well-adjusted but nonetheless contributed half-century to build a winning 129-run stand.
The win takes Gladiators to the top of the points table.
Zalmi’s Umaid Asif and Sameen Gul picked one-wicket each.
Opener Kamran Akmal’s 72 runs innings powered Zalmi to 165 runs in the match with Gladiators.
Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 44 runs innings with seven boundaries contributed substantive runs during the death overs of the game.
Despite the small boundaries, this wasn’t the easiest track to score quickly on, especially to the spinners, with Fawad Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz taking a combined 2 for 49 in eight overs.
Muhammad Hasnain and DJ Bravo took one-wicket each.
Darren Sammy-led Zalmi, the winners of PSL 2017, are ruling the table with five wins from seven games. Sarfraz’s Gladiators also boast five wins from seven games but have been edged out by Zalmi who have a higher Net Run Rate.
Zalmi won their last encounter on Friday against Islamabad United by four wickets in a last-ball thriller, where Liam Dawson cracked a boundary to bring his team the four runs needed to win off the last delivery.
Player of the Match Dawson hit 52 not out from 35 balls, while Sammy contributed with 40 off 29 to chase down Islamabad’s total of 176.
Gladiators too won their last encounter, against Multan Sultans on Friday, by six wickets. After restricting Multan to 121, courtesy DJ Bravo and Sohail Tanvir who took three wickets each, Gladiators sailed towards the target.
Gladiators’ Mohammad Hasnain is the latest pace sensation from this PSL after he caught everyone’s attention when he bowled a 150+ kph delivery in only his second game on Friday.
