Quetta tame Peshawar to enter HBL PSL final

KARACHI: Quetta Gladiators neutralised dangerman Kamran Akmal and then countered an onslaught by West Indian master blasters Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard as they defeated arch-rivals Peshawar Zalmi by 10 runs to secure their third HBL Pakistan Super League final in four years.

Chasing a victory target of 187, Zalmi were down and almost out at 90-5 in the 14th over when Sammy and Pollard joined hands to almost turn the tables on Quetta with some scintillating pinch-hitting. Together they put on 83 from 6 overs to inject life into an otherwise one-sided encounter. There was plenty of drama soon after veteran Misbah-ul-Haq was sent back by the young Mohammad Hasnain, one of the heroes of the night for Quetta, in the 14th over.

Sammy, the Peshawar captain took the lead and together with Pollard brought Peshawar back in the game. The duo took 17 from a Sohail Tanvir and 22 off Dwayne Bravo. Quetta suffered after losing leggie Fawad Ahmed, who was rushed to the hospital after an Imam-ul-Haq shot hit him straight in the face. Fawad had just bowled 8 deliveries which meant that Quetta were one bowler short during the best part of Peshawar’s innings.

Sammy and Pollard exploited it and took Peshawar to a point when they needed 21 runs from the last over to get a direct place in the final. Sarfraz Ahmed, the Quetta captain, didn’t have many options and finally decided to give the ball to veteran Shane Watson despite the fact that the Aussie hasn’t bowled in quite a long time. Watson scalped Pollard on the third ball and it was game over for Peshawar, who will now take on the winner of the first Eliminator between Islamabad United and Karachi Kings. Going into the much-anticipated Qualifier, there were two men tipped to play key roles. Kamran Akmal and Quetta’s pinch-hitter Shane Watson.

Quetta had a plan for Kamran, who had smashed a 48-ball 86 in Peshawar’s last league game against Karachi King. They kept him on a tight leash with pacers Mohammad Hasnain and Sohail Tanvir bowling a series of short-pitched deliveries at him.

Peshawar were unable to contain Watson, who took the game away from them with a 43-ball 73 that enabled Quetta to put up a sizeable total of 186-6. Apart from Watson Ahsan Ali was a major contributor with a 34-ball 46. Together they put on 111 for the second wicket.

Peshawar paid the price for not selecting a specialist spinner as Watson blew them away with some stunning big-hitting shamshing six sixes and five fours. Peshawar needed their top man Kamran to deliver. But he could never really get into his element. He was put under immense pressure because of a series of dot balls bowled first by Sohail Tanvir and then by Hasnain and was sent back to the dugout after Rossouw took an excellent catch at deep square to put Quetta in control of the proceedings.