The Pakistan Super League churned out another high-scoring thriller as Quetta Gladiators chased down 241 against Peshawar Zalmi in quite an extraordinary fashion.
The carnage at Rawalpindi saw Quetta hit 30 fours and 10 sixes in an innings to record the highest chase ever in PSL history.
While Babar Azam dazzled in the first half, it was a Jason Roy show in the second half as the English opener hammered an unbeaten 145 as Quetta got home with 10 balls to spare!
Babar set the tone very early in the innings by smashing three fours off Aimal Khan in just the second over.
While Saim Ayub looked a little tentative, Babar had no such problems as he continued to find the boundary with the field restrictions in place. In no time, Babar raced to 37 in the powerplay but it was Ayub who raced to a fifty out of nowhere with successive sixes.
At the halfway stage, Peshawar had 110 on the board with the bowling side badly chasing a wicket to break the momentum.
That wicket proved to be elusive for a while as both the batters continued to make merry, adding over 150 for the first wicket.
While both of them had an opportunity to register three figures, Dwaine Pretorius ended Ayub’s hopes to pick up the first of the only four wickets to fall on the night.
Babar continued his merry ways though and had Rovman Powell for company. The Pakistan skipper eventually got to his 8th T20 hundred and was dismissed only in the final over of the innings for 115.
On 9 out of 10 days, 240 would have been enough to guarantee victory in a T20 game. But in this year’s edition, we have already seen teams making great use of the batting beauties on offer.
Watch here Rovman Powell Hit 116 Meter Six vs Quetta Gladiators | PSL Match 25
It was no surprise that Roy and Martin Guptill already managed to wipe off 15 runs from the target in just the opening over. Roy then welcomed Mujeeb-ur-Rahman to the attack with a four and a six.
Guptill took on Wahab Riaz for three fours in an over before losing his wicket to the same bowler and Peshawar failed an opportunity to send Roy to the pavilion in the powerplay when the keeper couldn’t hold onto a catch.
At one stage in the PP, Roy smashed six fours and a six in the span of just nie deliveries as 88 were wiped off in just the powerplay.
There was no respite for the bowlers as Roy’s incredible hitting took Quetta to 137 after just ten overs. Quetta easily emerged favorites at that stage despite needing 10 an over.
While Will Smeed contributed briefly, Hafeez followed suit and delivered a cameo of his own. Roy reached his ton off just 44 balls and showed no signs of slowing down.
When Quetta needed 60 from the final 30 deliveries, Hafeez found the boundary four times in a solitary over and that was followed by Roy smashing a hat-trick of boundaries off Wahab Riaz.
60 from 30 came down to 23 from 18 and from thereon, there was always going to be just one winner.
Brief scores: Peshawar Zalmi 240/2 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 115, Saim Ayub 74) lost to Quetta Gladiators 243/2 in 18.2 overs (Jason Roy 145*, Mohammad Hafeez 41*) by 8 wickets