Ahmed Shehzad was Quetta’s highest scorer on the day with his 41 off 27 balls enough to take his side over the line. PHOTO COURTESY: PCB
SHARJAH:
Quetta Gladiators confirmed their spot in the quarter-finals as one of the top two sides of the Pakistan Super League after claiming a comfortable five-wicket win over Karachi Kings to take themselves to 10 points after six games.
Sarfraz Ahmed’s side are now six points clear of third-placed Kings with two games to go, meaning that they are guaranteed to finish in one of the top two places that allows them two chances of reaching the final.
PSL 2016: Elliot inspires Quetta to five-wicket win over Karachi
Karachi skipper Shoaib Malik opted to bat first but openers Malik and Nauman Anwar struggled early on. Anwar was eventually dismissed by Anwar Ali as he missed an ugly hoick that crashed into his stumps in the third over.
While Karachi would have been pleased with their score of 49-1 at the end of the Powerplay, it was all downhill from there once New Zealand all-rounder Grant Elliot came on to bowl.
Elliott dismissed James Vince, Shakib alHasan, Ravi Bopara and Sohail Tanvir to leave Karachi struggling as wickets continued to fall.
The innings never got going due to that and Karachi could only manage 126-9 in their 20 overs. Elliott was the pick of the bowlers with his 4-15 in his four overs, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Nabi also impressed with economic figures of 0-24 in four overs and 1-17 in three respectively.
Quetta knew they just had to play sensible cricket to get over the line in the chase and openers Luke Wright and Ahmed Shehzad started off sensibly. When left-arm spinner Imad Wasim came on to bowl, Wright tried to take him on straight away, only to top edge the ball to Mir Hamza.
PSL: Quetta beat Islamabad to go top
The score was always going to prove too small to defend and despite the Karachi bowlers bowling some tight lines, the Quetta batsmen were never really tested to their fullest.
Shehzad’s 41 off 27 balls and Kevin Peitersen’s 26 off 22, before both fell victim to the leg-spin of Usama Mir, took them even closer.
Sarfraz then scored a sedate 29 to see them over the line with seven balls to spare.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2016.
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