Sammy takes Peshawar home on one leg
Injured Zalmi Skipper Darren Sammy wins a thrilling match against Quetta Gladiators in the ongoing third edition match of PSL at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
In a moist condition, Peshawar Zalmi captain Darren Sammy won the toss and choose to field first. Asad Shafiq and Shane Watson came to open but debutant Sameen Gul sent Shafiq back to pavilion in the 3rd over. Watson and Umar Amin contributed 50 runs for the second wicket but Amin was removed by Sammy on 11 runs.
All-rounder Shane Watson played a sensational innings of 47 runs on 32 balls with the help of 5 sixes and a boundary including 3 back to back sixes on three balls of Mohammad Asghar’s. Rilee Rossouw and skipper Sarfraz started building partnership as both contributed 42 for the 5th wicket but Umaid Asif booked Rossouw as half of the Gladiators were back in the dugout on 125 runs in the 17th over.
None of the batsman played responsible innings as Quetta managed to score 141 for the loss of 8 wickets in their 20 overs. Shane Watson 47 and Rilee Rossouw 37 were top scorers for Gladiators. Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz and Darren Sammy picked up 2 wickets each while Sameen Gul and Khalid Usman got 1 apiece for Peshawar.
In reply, Zalmi lost their first wicket on 31 when Kamran Akmal got out on 10 runs. Reliable Dwayne Smith was also sent packing early by Mohammad Nawaz but Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Hafeez put Peshawar back on winning track as both contributed 54 runs for the 3rd wicket. At that stage, Zalmi were favorites but back to back wicket loss pushed them on back foot.
Zalmi lost their 5th wicket in the 18.3 overs on 125 runs when Sabbir Rehman got out by Rahat Ali. Gladiators had it cover until injured Darren Sammy came to bat as Zalmi required 9 ball 16 runs. Usman Khalid missed the next ball and got a single of the 5th ball and Sammy came to bat and sent the ball out of boundary for a six.
Zalmi required another 10 runs in last over of Anwar Ali as Usman once again picked a single and Sammy hammered another 6 on the next ball. Sammy missed the next ball but completed the runs chase on the 4th ball of the over with a hard hit straight four and won the match singlehandedly and with one leg by 5 wickets for Zalmi.
Tamim Iqbal 36 and Mohammad Hafeez 29 were main scorers but Darren Semmy finished the match on unbeaten 16 of just 4 balls. Watson, Rahat Ali, Hastings and Mohammad Nawaz picked up 1 wicket each. Darren Sammy was given Man of the Match award for his all-round outstanding performance.
Two matches to be played today as Multan Sultans to take Karachi Kings in the first match at 4:30PM (PST) while the second encounter to be played between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad united at 9:00 (PST).
Match Summary:
| Toss | Peshawar Zalmi , elected to field first |
| Man of the Match | Darren Sammy (Peshawar Zalmi) |
| QUETTA GLADIATORS 141/8(20 OVERS) | |
| Shane Watson 47(32) | Wahab Riaz 2/16 (4) |
| Rilee Rossouw 37(25) | Umaid Asif 2/18 (4) |
| PESHAWAR ZALMI 143/5(19.4 OVERS) | |
| Mohammad Hafeez 29(34) | Shane Watson 1/16 (4) |
| Tamim Iqbal 36(38) | Mohammad Nawaz 1/17 (3) |
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