Takeaways from Quetta Gladiators’ win against Peshawar Zalmi
The Akmal brothers pleasantly surprised fans after playing an impressive innings Friday night. Umar Akmal batted till the end to earn Quetta Gladiators a deserved win against Peshawar Zalmi.
Let’s take a look at some major takeaways from Gladiators’ victory.
Quetta Gladiators
Excellent bowling performance
The Gladiators didn’t need to experiment with their bowling options at all, as the five specialist bowlers did their job brilliantly. Spinner Muhammad Nawaz and pacers Muhammad Irfan and Ghulam Mudassar took four Zalmi wickets and ended with economies of 6.25, 6.75 and 6 respectively. It was the tight bowling during the middle overs by the local trio that restricted Zalmi to a modest total of 155.
Umar Akmal’s crowning moment
Photo: PSL/Twitter
Umar hasn’t been considered for a national side call-up for some time now, but the versatile batsman showed he still has some tricks up his sleeve. He stepped on the stage after early wickets of Ahmed Shehzad and Rilee Rossouw had put Quetta on the back foot, and didn’t look back. His unbeaten 75 off 50 balls isn’t about how quick or slow he played but about staying on the pitch, showing composure and making sure he was there till the end to take his side home.
Depth in batting line-up
Ahmed Shehzad suffered a horrid start to his latest PSL campaign, being dismissed for a golden duck, but in the past he has been a constant performer in the PSL. Combine that with Shane Watson, hard-hitting opener Rilee Rossouw, and Sarfraz Ahmed and Dwayne Smith at the later stages and you’ve got yourself a top batting line-up capable of obliterating any bowling unit. But that is, if they click at the right time.
Peshawar Zalmi
Kamran Akmal continues his PSL form
The leading run-scorer in PSL’s history, Kamran continued hitting boundaries right where he left off. He was dismissed just one run short of his half-century. Despite the loss, Peshawar would be glad with the opener’s innings and they’ll hope Kamran can continue to score and inspire the team to post big totals in the future.
Middle-overs champion Misbah-ul-Haq
Photo: PSL/Twitter
Misbah-ul-Haq is 44 years old and still playing cricket at one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Peshawar would be ecstatic over his presence in the team and ability to keep the runs flowing in the tough middle overs. Misbah’s unbeaten 49 off 32 balls was the quickest knock of the match, but more importantly, it helped Zalmi out of a tough position and allowed the team to finish with a competitive total.
Lack of dismissals proving costly
Peshawar Zalmi were undone by the lack of wickets their bowlers could take throughout Gladiators’ innings. Hasan Ali dismissed Ahmed Shehzad on the first ball of the innings, but that was the most exciting moment for Zalmi’s bowling unit. Even when Quetta’s batsmen could not hit big shots, Zalmi’s inability to take wickets meant the batsmen could set themselves for an easy finish at the end.
Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/sports/2019/02/takeaways-from-quetta-gladiators-win-against-peshawar-zalmi/