The 7th match of the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) was played between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi at the Dubai international Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Quetta Gladiators won the match by three wickets in a last-over thriller.
The captain of the Quetta Gladiators Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to field first. Peshawar Zalmi opened their innings with Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal alongside Mohammad Hafeez. Though they did not get off to a solid start and kept losing wickets at regular intervals and ended up putting a modest total of 135/7 in their scheduled 20 overs.
West Indian Darren Sammy played a valiant knock of 48 to guide his side to a respectable total. Sammy was supported by Shahid Yousuf after a disappointing performance from their top-order batsmen. Peshawar captain Shahid Afridi went back to the pavilion without opening his account.
The pick of the Gladiators bowlers was Mohammad Nawaz, who picked up three important wickets. Veteran Pakistani pacer Umar Gul also picked up two wickets and was very economical.
It was surprising to see that he did not finish his quota of 4 overs. Anwar Ali and Mohammad Nabi also chipped in with one wicket each.
Gladiators opened their run chase with England player Luke Wright and Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad, who started off really well but could not continue it for long. Kevin Petersen walked out to bat at No. 3 and immediately formed a partnership with his captain Sarfraz Ahmed.
Both of them got themselves in but then could not finish the game as they were both sent back to the dressing room by the Peshawar bowlers. Elton Chigumbura of Zimbabwe and Anwar Ali took the Gladiators over the finishing line off the penultimate delivery of the match.
Peshawar captain Shahid Afridi had a wonderful match with the ball as his figures of 2/17 with an economy rate of 4.25 were phenomenal, but his efforts went in vain as his side lost the match.
Australian express pace bowler Shaun Tait picked up one wicket alongside Mohammad Asghar and Junaid Khan. Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz also picked up two wickets.
Brief Scores: Quetta Gladiators (toss) 139/7 (Pietersen 35, Sarfraz 21; Afridi 2/17, Riaz 2/29) beat Peshawar Zalmi (135/7 (Sammy 48, Yousuf 21; Nawaz 3/29, Gul 2/19) by 3 wickets.
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