What a game of cricket fans witnessed at the Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi in the Pakistan Super League face off between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi on Wednesday. It was a high-scoring affair as a total of 483 runs were scored in the match.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Peshawar Zalmi would have been happy with their eventual total as they posted a massive 240/3 with captain Babar Azam scoring 115 off 65 deliveries. His opening partner Saim Ayub also scored a superb 34-ball 74 along with useful contributions from Rovman Powell and Kohler-Cadmore taking Peshawar to a massive first-innings total.
However, as it turned out, it wasn't enough on the day as the Quetta Gladiators chased the target down with sheer authority and 10 balls remaining, winning the match comfortably with 10 balls to spare.
Jason Roy was the star of the night for the Gladiators as he scored a sublime 145 off 63 and remained unbeaten till the end. Mohammad Hafeez also played his part in the run chase, scoring a 41 off 18. And even though one could point out that Peshawar Zalmi bowlers might have had an off day but former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull made an interesting observation.
Notably, after scoring 83 off 46 deliveries, the Pakistan skipper took his time to get past the three-figure mark, taking 14 more balls to reach the milestone. Doull, however, said that the team should have been kept first and with more power hitters to come, Babar could have easily maintained the same tempo to ensure that the team ended up scoring those extra runs. As it turns out, those runs could have indeed come in handy.
“Rather than putting the team first... the last little while, that's all that been happening. Rather than looking for boundaries, still so much firepower to come. Hundreds are brilliant, stats are great, but it has to be team first,” Doull said when he was on air while describing Babar's ton.
The victory, meanwhile, has now helped Gladiators get to the fifth place on the points table with as many as three wins in nine matches.