Shehzad powers Quetta to victory

By our correspondents

February 07, 2016

DUBAI: Ahmed Shehzad’s stroke-filled 71 and his 92-run opening partnership with Luke Wright eased Quetta Gladiators to an eight-wicket win over Karachi Kings.

The side chased down a target of 148 with 16 balls to spare, notching up their second big victory in as many games.

Shehzad and Wright took charge of the chase from the outset, after the latter survived an lbw appeal in the first over off Imad Wasim.

Mohammad Amir managed to keep the pair quiet for a couple of overs but Shehzad and Wright targeted the other bowlers in the line-up to make up for it. They took 34 runs off Shakib Al Hasan’s three overs during their partnership, including a 16-run over in which both Wright and Shehzad struck sixes on the leg side. By the tenth over, Quetta were a solid 82 for 0, with 66 required off 60 deliveries, and Shehzad ensured they did not relinquish their grip after Wright fell to Imad in the 12th over.

He brought up his fifty off 35 balls with a six over long-on and hastened Quetta’s march to victory with successive fours off Shakib. He struck five fours and four sixes in his 46-ball stay at the crease. By the time he fell in the 16th over, Quetta needed 10 runs off four overs and were steered home calmly by Kevin Pietersen, who finished the game with a six.

Earlier, lack of partnerships at the top of the order stalled Karachi’s innings after they were put in to bat.

James Vince was the only one in the top four to get to a start, accumulating a 33-ball 30, before a rapid partnership of 69 for the fifth wicket between Ravi Bopara and Shoaib Malik gave the innings some impetus.

The pair helped Karachi pile up 63 runs off the last six overs before they both fell in the final over of the innings. Bopara’s 29-ball 40 included three boundaries, while Mohammad Nabi and Anwar Ali picked up two wickets apiece for Quetta.

Earlier on Friday night, a skilful performance from the left-arm duo of Mohammad Asghar and Wahab Riaz sealed Peshawar Zalmi’s 24-run win in their opening fixture against Islamad United.

Defending 145, Asghar’s slow, loopy spinners derailed Islamabad’s top order. He dismissed Babar Azam for a duck in his first over, Umar Amin for four in his second and then got the big wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq for 12 as Islamabad lost half their side for 66 runs. Shane Watson, who made 28, was their top-scorer, but he was dismissed by Wahab in the ninth over.

Sam Billings and Andre Russell resisted, but both of them fell off successive balls and Wahab finished with 3 for 32. Asghar had a hand in those wickets too - he clung on to two sharp chances on the cover boundary and later played them down by saying he had large hands like most Pathans and so it would be hard to drop catches. So United fell to 121 for 9 and their second defeat in as many matches.

In the first innings, Peshawar managed to reach 145 with Tamim Iqbal making a run-a-ball half-century. It ended up a crucial contribution considering Peshawar, having chosen to bat, had stumbled to 88 for 4 in the 15th over and needed a set batsman in the middle for Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy to go hard at the other end.

Their late hitting pushed the total past 140 in the death, though, none of Peshawar’s batsmen, barring Tamim, managed a score more than 16. For Islamabad, Russell took 3 for 31.

Score Board

Quetta Gladiators won toss

Karachi Kings

L M P Simmons c Anwar b Nawaz 11

Nauman Anwar c Zulfiqar b Anwar 0

J M Vince st Sarfraz b Nabi 30

Shakib Al Hasan b Nabi 17

*Shoaib Malik run out 37

R S Bopara c sub (Saad) b Anwar 40

Imad Wasim run out 0

Sohail Tanvir not out 1

Iftikhar Ahmed not out 0