Quetta Gladiators defeated Karachi Kings in a thrilling last-ball encounter at National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Thursday night, claiming their fourth victory of PSL 9.
Sherfane Rutherford scored an undefeated 58 off 31 balls, and he and Akeal Hosain (22* off 17) shared an unbroken 80 runs to win the match.
Pitch report and toss update
The pitch at the National Stadium is renowned for its batting-friendly conditions, offering a smooth pace for the batters, as reflected in the average first-inning score of 190. So the Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field first.
Vince and Seifert put up a partnership for the Kings after an early blow
The decision to bowl first by the Quetta Gladiators was immediately rewarded when Shan Masood was deceived by left-arm spinner Hosein on the third ball of the first over. James Vince charged in with his guns blazing, smoking boundaries all over the field.
While Seifert also exploited to take advantage of the field restrictions. Karachi Kings scored 61 runs at the end of the powerplay for the loss of one wicket. Seifert got trapped leg-before-wicket by mystery spinner Usman Tariq, ending the 59-run second-wicket stand on the first ball of his delivery.
On the final ball of that over, Vince was also trapped leg-before-wicket after having scored 37 from 25 balls, including eight fours. With the scoreboard displaying 91-3 in the tenth over, Mohammad Nawaz released some pressure by hitting Mohammad Wasim Jr. for three consecutive boundaries.
Contribution from the lower order took the Kings to a fighting total
Abrar Ahmed removed Malik in the 13th over when he had trouble getting off the blocks. Hosein dismissed the dangerous Nawaz in the next over as well; by that time, he had raced to 28 off 19 balls because of four boundaries. After coming back in the 16th over, Abrar shocked the Kings again.
First, he removed Hasan, leaving Karachi at 136-7 after 17 overs, and then he removed Kieron Pollard for a dismal 13 off 10 balls. Anwar smashed Wasim for two sixes and one four in the final over, guiding the Karachi Kings to grab 20 runs in that over.
The Karachi Kings reached 165-8 in 20 overs because of Anwar’s undefeated cameo of 25 from 14 balls. Hosein and Usman both returned with two wickets, but Abrar claimed a massive three-wicket haul, and Wasim also secured one wicket for the Quetta Gladiators.
Shakeel and Roy gave good start to the Quetta Gladiators
Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel, the opening batsmen for the Quetta Gladiators, got off to an excellent start, scoring 57 runs in the powerplay before the latter was dismissed by Hasan Ali. During the powerplay, Roy, playing the role of the aggressor, hammered three sixes and one four.
Khawaja Nafay, batting third, made a mistake in his calculation of a massive shot and was caught at long-on off the bowling of Zahid Mahmood by Muhammad Irfan Khan for a paltry two runs off six balls.
Tim Seifert, the Kings’ wicketkeeper, made a stunning catch that ended Sarfaraz Ahmed’s innings at the crease. Seifert dove to his left to grab the ball from Hasan’s bowling. With seven wickets remaining at the halfway point, the Quetta Gladiators needed 83 runs to win.
After reaching his eighth half-century in the PSL in just 27 balls, Roy was dismissed in the 12th over by Shoaib Malik. Zahid came back in the next over to dismiss Rilee Rossouw, which put the Gladiators in a difficult position.
Rutherford and Hosein’s partnership took the Quetta Gladiators home
Akeal Hosein joined Rutherford, needing 65 off 47 balls. After taking some time, they struck six each in the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th overs, reducing the total to just 25 needed off the final two overs. In the penultimate over, Rutherford hit Hasan for another six, scoring ten runs off the over.
After Rutherford hit two sixes in the first two balls and reached his third PSL fifty of 27 balls, Anwar Ali was left with the difficult task of defending 15 off the last over. Quetta Gladiators needed one on the last ball, and Rutherford smashed a boundary to fine-leg to secure the victory for his team.
In the 6th wicket partnership, Hosein (22*) and Rutherford (58*) put together an unbeaten 80 runs. Hasan and Zahid each finished with two wickets, while Malik took one wicket.
