Islamabad United defeated Quetta Gladiators by 39 runs in the first Eliminator of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi, on Friday.
The win saw United making way to the second Eliminator where they will take on Babar Azam's Peshawar Zalmi tomorrow at the same venue.
The Gladiators crumbled during their 175-run chase as they fell 39 runs short. Islamabad’s bowlers were all over the chasing side and didn’t let them get back in the game from the very start.
Chasing the target, Quetta suffered multiple blows right at the start of their innings as they had lost five wickets for just 16 runs in the first five overs.
Islamabad’s bowlers, Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah, shone with the new ball and provided their side with early breakthroughs.
Five of Quetta’s starting batters failed to score in double digits. Saud Shakeel, Jason Roy, Rilee Rossouw, Khawaja Nafay and Laurie Evans, all big names, couldn’t do anything with the bat.
However, down the order, Akeal Hosein and Omair bin Yousuf gave Gladiators’ supporters some hope as the two combined for 52 runs.
Hosein picked up the pace and started to look like the man to lead the Gladiators near victory but a misunderstanding with Omair ended his innings as he was run out after scoring 31 on 18 balls with two fours and three sixes.
After Akeal’s departure, Omair stayed on the pitch and stayed till the end before he was removed by Naseem after contributing 50 runs.
Imad picked three, Naseem got two while Obey McCoy, Hunain Shah and Faheem Ashraf picked one wicket each.
Batting first, despite a slow start, Islamabad picked up rhythm and started blasting boundaries.
Martin Guptill top-scored for the two-time PSL winners with 56 off 47 deliveries courtesy of six boundaries. He was followed by Salman Ali Agha who contributed 31 runs on 21 balls.
United looked on a course to a massive total but Quetta’s remarkable comeback late in the game halted their charge as they were ultimately restricted to 174-9 in the allocated overs.
Amir and Akeal Hosein took two wickets each while Mohammad Wasim Jnr., Abrar Ahmed and Saud Shakeel bagged one.