LAHORE: Quetta Gladiators registered their first win in Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 by beating Hyderabad Kingsmen by 40 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 175, the Kingsmen were restricted to 134-8 in the allotted 20 overs thanks to a brilliant bowling attack by the Gladiators.
Saim Ayub was the first to fall after hitting successive boundaries in the opening over. He scored eight runs off four balls before being bowled by a sharp, unplayable bouncer from Alsari Joseph.
In the next over, second opener Mas Sadaq was dismissed for a duck off the second ball of Abrar Ahmed as the team stumbled to 17-2 in 1.2 overs.
The Kingsmen failed to build momentum and lost their third wicket in the powerplay as Abrar struck again to dismiss Usman Khan cheaply for 14 off 18 balls, including two fours.
Saad Ali and Marnus Labuschagne tried to stabilize the innings, adding crucial runs to take the total past 50.
However, Usman Tariq made an immediate impact in his first over, dismissing Saad Ali for seven off 12 balls as the Kingsmen slipped to 51-4 in nine overs.
Skipper South Shakeel, who chipped the ball in his first over, claimed the crucial wicket of Marnes Labuschagne, who scored 23 runs off 21 balls, including three fours, to reduce the Kingsmen to 57-5 in 9.4 overs.
Then Irfan Khan Niazi and Hasan Khan put together a good partnership to tick the scoreboard and cross the 100-run mark.
The 48-run stand was finally broken when the Kingsmen left Hasan Khan at 105-6 in 15 overs with 31 off 19 balls, including three fours and a six.
Abrar again dealt another blow to the Kingsmen as Irfan Khan was dismissed for 33 off 25 balls which included two fours and 2 sixes. Ahmed Daniel then joined the attack and hit Hammad Azam for an 8-ball six.
With Mahesh Deekshana unbeaten on 2 runs and Riley Meredith on 3 runs, Hyderabad ended their innings with eight wickets to chase.
Batting first, Gladiators scored 174-8 in 20 overs. Openers Captain South and Shamil started adding runs right from the start.
However, the final delivery of the second over saw Riley Meredith dismiss South after hitting a boundary off one ball, as the Gladiators were reduced to 21-1.
In the fourth over, Meredith struck again, dismissing Riley Rosso for a five-ball duck to provide another crucial breakthrough.
Shamil Hussain then joined Hasan Nawaz and the pair took the team past 50 to stabilize the innings.
Their 50-run partnership eased the pressure, allowing them to score at regular intervals and put pressure on the Kingsman bowling attack.
Shamil has been in good form in PSL 11 with another half-centurie to lift his hat-trick.
However, the 89-run stand was broken when Meredith struck again to dismiss Shamil Hussain after a 41-ball 54 that included 3 fours and 3 sixes.
Hasan continued to pile on the runs, reaching his fourth PSL half-century, with Khawaja Nafe joining him at the crease.
Hasan Nawaz scored 53 runs off 40 balls before Usman Khan was run out by Saad Ali’s direct delivery.
However, Mahesh Dikshana turned the game around with his bowling in the 15th over with two quick wickets.
He dismissed Nafai for 6 off four balls, including a boundary, and then sent wicketkeeper-batsman Ben McDermott to the pavilion for a duck.
Tom Curran hit fours in the final overs of the innings to take his team’s total past 150.
Akif Javed picked up two crucial wickets in the final over—first to Curran’s 18-ball 31, which included a four and three sixes, and then Alzari ducked Joseph.
Abrar Ahmed came to the crease and hit back-to-back fours, taking a run off the last ball to finish unbeaten on 9 off three balls, while Ahmed Daniel scored 6 off eight balls.
Riley Meredith was the best bowler for the Kingsmen, taking 3/38 from four overs, while Mahesh Deekshanan and Akif Javed contributed two wickets each.