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Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford lead Peshawar to thrilling win

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Last updated on 26 Feb 2021 | 02:23 PM
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Haider Ali, Sherfane Rutherford lead Peshawar to thrilling win

For most of the run-chase, it looked like the bowling team Quetta held the advantage, but it was Peshawar who came out on top in the end by three wickets

It looked for a while that a team batting first would finally register a win in the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL), but that didn’t end up happening as Peshawar Zalmi secured a dramatic three-wicket win against Quetta Gladiators in Karachi on Friday (February 26). With this, teams batting second have won all eight matches in this season’s PSL so far.

Chasing 199 for victory, for most of their innings, Zalmi didn’t seem to be the favourites and that was despite an excellent half-century by Haider Ali. In fact, when Shoaib Malik was dismissed by Ben Cutting in the 16th over and Peshawar needed 54 runs from 25 deliveries with five wickets in hand, the match seemed to be heading towards Quetta. But Sherfane Rutherford wasn't going down without a fight and a few big hits from him in the following overs brought Zalmi right back in the contest.

Yet, when 27 runs were needed from the final two overs, you'd have said that the Gladiators held the advantage. Dale Steyn's lengths during the death overs has been a widely discussed topic over the years and it sure will be the case once again now as the legendary pacer bowled poor lengths and went for 21 runs off the penultimate over of the game. While Rutherford hit one six in that over, it was Peshawar captain Wahab Riaz, who earlier had a poor time with the ball, who made a huge difference with his two consecutive sixes off the fourth and fifth deliveries of the over.

With six runs needed off the final over, Zalmi should have cruised to victory, but they experienced a hiccup as two wickets fell off the first couple of deliveries. While Mohammad Hasnain began the over excellently, he erred off the third delivery, which resulted in five wides which more or less sealed the game for the team from Peshawar. Rutherford completed proceedings with a boundary soon after, with his unbeaten 36 from 18 deliveries (four sixes) playing a huge role in his side's victory.

Earlier, after having opted to bowl, Peshawar got an early breakthrough courtesy Mohammad Imran who did a fine job during the Powerplay, conceding just five runs in two overs. Brought into the bowling attack in the third over, the left-arm pacer got a wicket right away, dismissing Cameron Delport for 2. Imran thought he had another scalp when he struck Saim Ayub on his pads a couple of overs later and the on-field decision was out. But Ayub reviewed and replays showed that the ball hit the bat before striking the back pad and, therefore, the decision was overturned.

Faf du Plessis looked in excellent touch during his stay in the middle for the Gladiators. After a slow start, he played a key role in upping the ante for his team. But at the other end, Ayub who had also gotten off to a start was run-out after a direct hit from Rutherford.

Du Plessis and Sarfaraz Ahmed then put on a 40-run partnership in just 23 deliveries, but before they could put their team in command, the former was dismissed while looking for another big shot. It was Wahab with the wicket, with du Plessis having to head back to the pavilion after making 37.

Then, Sarfaraz and Azam Khan's superb 105-run partnership for the fourth wicket propelled the Gladiators to a total of 198/7 in their 20 overs. In fact, they could have possibly got more but losing three wickets from as many deliveries towards the end of the innings saw them fall short of the 200-run mark.

Sarfaraz played a magnificent innings, scoring 81 from only 40 deliveries, hitting as many as 12 fours and one six. He was well supported by Azam, who also played a top knock, managing a 26-ball 47.

After 19 runs came off the first five deliveries of the 19th over, the Gladiators seemed in complete control and, at 193/3, looked set to cross the 200-run mark. But that wasn't to be as Sarfaraz was first caught off the final delivery of the penultimate over, bowled by Wahab, before Azam and Cutting were dismissed by Saqib Mahmood off the first two balls of the final over. It was a fantastic final over from Saqib as he conceded just five runs.

During the run-chase, tactically, the Gladiators would have been very pleased with how they got the wicket of Kamran Akmal. Just before the fourth delivery of the third over of Zalmi’s innings, the fielding captain Sarfaraz decided to push point back to the boundary. The plan worked immediately as Akmal was caught by that fielder, Cutting, off the very next delivery off the bowling of Usman Shinwari.

Meanwhile, Imam-ul-Haq was playing a fine innings for Peshawar, but he couldn't kick on and convert a start into a big knock as he was bowled by Zahid Mahmood for 41. While Zalmi had got off to a quick start, the scoring rate slowed down in the immediate overs after the end of the Powerplay as only 25 runs came between overs 7-10.

While Tom Kohler-Cadmore made a half-century in Zalmi's game against Multan Sultans, he managed just four on this occasion, becoming Steyn's first wicket in PSL 2021.

After an impressive cameo in his previous innings, Ali was in top form once again, notching up a half-century in just 28 deliveries. He took on Shinwari in the 13th over of the innings and that seemed to change the momentum of the game. At the time, Quetta were in desperate need of a wicket and they got it thanks to Steyn who dismissed Ali. It was a huge wicket in the context of the match and the contest seemed to be in the balance at that moment before Rutherford and Wahab took charge.

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