The Pakistan Super League kicked off in a grand manner in Karachi last week and is happening in full swing with matches coming thick and fast for all teams. With more than one week of action already over, the franchises have figured out their best combination of players to win them games.
The Quetta Gladiators faced Islamabad United in a crucial game here at Rawalpindi in match number 9 of the Pakistan Super League. It was excepted to be a close encounter with two evenly matched teams and it turned out to be a last over finish. It was great viewing as a neutral.
Quetta Gladiators were chasing a stiff target of 188 runs and they needed bright start in the power play to achieve their target. The Quetta openers- Jason Roy and Shane Watson provided them just what the doctor ordered by getting 50 runs in the power play. Even after a bright start to the innings, the required run rate was almost 10 with 137 runs required off 14 overs.
Then the Islamabad captain Shadab Khan introduced himself into the attack looking for wickets to stop the momentum. Ahmed Shehzad who had just come in to bat smoked the first ball he faced for a six and then went big again in his third ball. When he tried to go for the maximum again, he missed the ball completely and was caught short of his crease. It was a bang-bang-and-gone moment as he was dismissed for an entertaining 5 balls 12 runs .
Watch the event in the clip below.
Ben Cutting’s back to back sixes in the last over of the game took Quetta Gladiators over the finishing line in a thrilling encounter. With 11 required off last over Cutting hit twin sixes over long on boundary to wrap up things with 2 balls to spare. He finished on 42 off 17 and took the man of the match award.
Earlier in the evening, Islamabad United were asked to bat first and put up a competitive score of 187 with notable contributions from Colin Ingram , Colin Munro and captain Shadab Khan.