Peshawar Zalmi move up to second with win over Quetta Gladiators

Zalmi chased down 155 with nine balls to spare to secure a four-wicket win

Karachi: Quetta Gladiators 154-5, Peshawar Zalmi 157-6 – Peshawar Zalmi won by four wickets

Scorecard

Peshawar Zalmi climbed up to second in the PSL table after defeating Quetta Gladiators by four wickets in Karachi.

Babar Azam's side restricted the Gladiators to 154 for 4 before runs from middle order duo Rovman Powell (36 off 23) and Jimmy Neesham (38 off 23) set up a successful chase.

Batting first, the Gladiators struggled to get a foothold in the game in the powerplay, with usually explosive Martin Guptill and Jason Roy scoring just 28 runs before the former was removed by Neesham (1 for 28) off the final ball of the sixth over.

Usman Qadir (2 for 26) accounted for both Roy and Mohammad Nawaz as Gladiators slipped to 37 for 3 in the ninth before Sarfaraz Ahmed and Iftikhar Ahmed restored some order with a 74-run fourth-wicket stand  off 50 balls.

^{Mohammad Hasnain picked up three wickets [Asif Hassan/Getty Images]}

^{Rovman Powell scored 36 runs off 23 balls from the middle order [Asif Hassan/Getty Images]}

Sarfaraz (39 off 30) was removed by Arshad Iqbal (1 for 37) in the 17th, but it did nothing to halt the Gladiators' momentum, with Odean Smith smashing 25 runs off 12 balls at No.6 to help his side beyond the 150-mark. Iftikhar finished unbeaten on 50 (34).

In reply, Mohammad Haris gifted Zalmi a quick start, blasting 18 runs off nine balls at the top of the order, but was one of three players to depart inside the powerplay, with Mohammad Hasnain also removing Saim Ayub and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Babar Azam was the next player to fall, pinned lbw by Mohammad Nawaz: Zalmi 67 for 4 in the eighth over.

Neesham and Powell shared a 46-run fifth-wicket stand off 30 deliveries to get their side's chase back on track, with the former later adding a further 21 runs (15 balls) in the company of Dasun Shanaka.

Neesham was dismissed in the 15th over but with only 21 runs required and 5.1 overs in the bank, Shanaka and Wahab Riaz had plenty of time to get over the line, eventually securing the two points in the penultimate over.

Hasnain (3 for 13) and Naseem Shah (1 for 19) both impressed with the ball for the Gladiators but expensive spells from Nawaz, who conceded 10 boundaries, Qais Ahmad and Smith proved costly.