Quetta Gladiators defeated Islamabad United in the first qualifier of HBL Pakistan Super League 10 and qualified for the final. Chasing Quetta Gladiators’ target of 210 runs, Islamabad United’s team was bundled out for 179 runs in the 20th over and thus suffered a defeat by 30 runs.
In the match played at Gaddafi Stadium, Quetta Gladiators won the toss and decided to bat. Saud Shakeel and Finn Allen opened the innings for Quetta, but Saud was dismissed early, after which Finn Allen and Riley Rossouw added 44 runs and Rossouw returned to the pavilion after scoring 16 runs. Hassan Nawaz was dismissed for 6 runs and Finn Allen for 41 runs.
Thanks to the aggressive innings of Dinesh Chandimal and Faheem Ashraf, Quetta scored 209 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Dinesh Chandimal remained not out with 48 runs while Faheem Ashraf was outstanding with 45 runs. Ben de Varshius and Salman Irshad of Islamabad United got two wickets.
In response to Quetta Gladiators’ target of 210 runs, Islamabad United’s first wicket fell to Alex Hales, who was dismissed without scoring a run. Then Sahibzada Farhan and Van der Duisen put on a 71-run partnership, but Van der Duisen returned to the pavilion after scoring 35 and Sahibzada Farhan after scoring 52 runs. After this, captain Shadab Khan was caught after scoring 16 runs.
Salman Agha scored 44 runs after which no batsman could get on the wicket and the entire Islamabad United team was dismissed for 179 runs in the last over. Quetta’s Usman Tariq got three wickets, while Mohammad Amir, Wasim Junior and Faheem Ashraf hot two wickets each.
Quetta Gladiators qualified for the final of the event with a 30-run victory. It should be noted that Lahore Qalandars will face Karachi Kings in the eliminator match tomorrow in the event and the winner of the match will face Islamabad United in Qualifier 2.
