ISLAMABAD: Former two-time Pakistan Super League champions Islamabad United defeated Quetta Gladiators by 43 runs in the tenth match of the T20 tournament played on Thursday at the National Stadium Karachi.
Quetta were striving to win today’s match to improve their position in the ongoing cricket contest.
So far, they have only secured a single victory against Karachi Kings while losing to Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans and now Islamabad United.
Earlier, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Gladiators won the toss and decided to bowl. However, they were totally outclassed by Shadab Khan's United that set a mammoth 230-run target for the opposing side.
Islamabad lost 4 wickets in 20 overs while entertaining spectators with the fiery batting performances of top scorers Colin Munro (72), Azam Khan (65) and Paul Stirling (58).
Shahid Afridi, who joined Gladiators after a long gap, gave 67 runs in his four overs and took one wicket.
Mohammad Nawaz was the most successful bowler for Quetta who took two wickets and conceded 32 runs.
Gladiators could not display a good batting performance and consistently lost wickets.
Opener Ahsan Ali (50) tried to set a blistering pace of the innings at a strike rate of 185.19. However, he could not find enough support from other batters and failed to stabilize the innings.
Mohammad Nawaz was the only other player who scored 47 off 22 deliveries while making an effort to chase the target.
Quetta lost all their wickets in the 19th over and only managed to score 186 runs.
PSL fans will witness a contest between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi on Friday.
As of now, Islamabad United have the highest average in the tournament while Multan Sultans are on top of the points table.
Quetta Gladiators are still on number 4 while Karachi Kings are at the bottom after losing all their matches.