DUBAI: Qutta Gladiators successfully chased what looked like a daunting target of 202 on the last ball and secured an impressive 2-wicket win against Lahore Qalandars in the eighteenth match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the early hours of Wednesday.
Gladiators needed 3 runs on the last ball which was smashed to the boundary by Muhammad Nabi for four, leading his team to a remarkable victory against the hard-lucked Qalandars.
Chasing the huge target of 202, Quetta Gladiators looked aggressive right from the start of their innings as their openers Ahmed Shehzad and Bismillah Khan made 28 in just two overs but Shehzad was dismissed leg before off Ehsan Adil at the same score.
However, Bismillah continued his bold innings to reach the fifty off only 24 balls. He along with Kevin Pietersen took the score to 100 in the ninth over. But at 1101, both the players were dismissed off two successive balls from Darren Bravo. First Pietersen went out after making 34 off 21 balls with six fours, then Bismillah for 55 from 30 balls with ten fours and a six.
Later, Kumar Snagakkara, who was playing his first match in the event, and captain Sarfraz Ahmed continued the run rate and took the score to 162 in 15.3 overs but both were dismissed by Ehsan and the score was 163 for five in 16 overs.
Muhammad Nawaz got caught for nil on Ahsan Adil’s delivery.
Earlier, Three breezy fifties enabled Lahore Qalandars to post a mammoth total of 201 for two against Quetta Gladiators in the 18th Twenty20 match of the Pakistan Super League here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfraz Ahmed had to pay a heavy price for putting Lahore Qalandars into bat first after winning the toss.
Lahore openers Chris Gayle and captain Azhar Ali lashed the baton-charge right from the beginning as they set a record opening stand of 108 runs before
Gayle departed.
He smashed a 34-ball 60 with six towering sixes and three fours. This is strange to note that he had made a total of only 43 runs off 34 balls in his four previous matches.
His partner Azhar scored 61 off 45 balls with seven fours and two sixes and later Umar Akmal, batting one-down, also played an unbeaten brisk innings of 55 from 25 balls with four sixes and as many fours.
Darren Bravo also remained not out, on 20 from 17 balls with three fours.
For Quetta Gladiators, Zulfiqar Babar and Grant Elliott took one wicket each.
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"I'll remember that ground forever in my life, that pitch as well. So, I wanted to have a piece of it with me," he says
