United cruise to victory against Gladiators in 13th PSL clash

ISLAMABAD: Quetta Gladiators suffered a crushing defeat by 63 runs in the 13th Pakistan Super League (PSL) match at the National Stadium Karachi on Friday after Islamabad United won the toss and set a mammoth target of 221.
Islamabad did not have a steady beginning and lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8), Rassie van der Dussen (1) and Shadab Khan (12) in the first seven overs.
Colin Munro tried to stay at the crease and scored 38 off 22 deliveries. However, his stumps were scattered by Aimal Khan in the 10th over when United were on 71.
The man who came to Islamabad’s rescue was Azam Khan who played a magnificent innings and scored 97 off 42 deliveries. The team was also helped by Asif Ali (42 off 24) and Faheem Ashraf (17 off 6) who played some big hits and maintained the pace of the innings.
Islamabad scored 220 after losing 6 wickets at the end of 20 overs.
In response, Quetta lost some quick early wickets, though Mohammad Hafeez (48 off 26), Sarfaraz Ahmed (41 off 36) and Iftikhar Ahmed (39 off 27) tried to stabilize things and keep the scoreboard ticking.
Quetta lost all their wickets in the 20th over after scoring 157.
Gladiators are ranked 6th on the points table, while United is at number two.
So far, the Gladiators have not been able to set a solid foundation to their campaign and only won one of four matches they have played.
The Gladiators’ last match was on Feb. 21 when Lahore Qalandars defeated them with a brilliant all-round performance, taking the opponents down by 63 runs.
Islamabad United’s last contest was on Thursday, when they cruised to a victory over Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets and 31 balls to spare.