Peshawar Zalmi win high-scoring clash with Quetta Gladiators

Will Smeed (97) and Ahsan Ali (73) went big at the top for the Gladiators but their bowling counterparts were no match for the power of Yasir Khan, Shoaib Malik and Hussain Talat, all of whom posted 150-plus strike rates

Karachi: Quetta Gladiators 190-4, Peshawar Zalmi 191-5 – Peshawar Zalmi won by five wickets

Peshawar Zalmi got their 2022 Pakistan Super League campaign off to a winning start with a five-wicket victory over Quetta Gladiators.

Opening duo Will Smeed (97) and Ahsan Ali (73) went big at the top to put the Gladiators in a strong position but their good work was undone by the poor performances of their teammates with the ball and the collective power of Yasir Khan, Shoaib Malik and Hussain Talat.

Batting first, Smeed, on his PSL debut, and Ali came out of the blocks like seasoned opening partners, blasting 155 runs off 93 balls for the first wicket, Smeed contributing 78 runs off 47 deliveries and Ali scoring 73 off 46.

No bowler was spared as 10 of the first 15 overs were dispatched for 10 or more runs, with Sohail Khan’s 24-run 15th over the costliest of them all.

Usman Qadir brought the partnership to an end in the 16th, removing Ali for 73 (46 balls), and picked up Ben Duckett (0) in the same over to reduce Quetta Gladiators to 156 for 2.

^{Will Smeed scored 97 runs for Quetta Gladiators [Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images]}

Unfortunately, it did little to slow the flow of runs, with Smeed, accompanied Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz, dispatching the final four overs for a further 35 runs as the Gladiators closed on 190 for 4.

Smeed, caught off the final ball of the innings, top-scored for his side with 97 (62 balls) while Qadir (2 for 20) and Pat Brown (0 for 34) were the pick of Zalmi’s bowlers.

In reply, Yasir Khan (30 off 12) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (22 off 16) got their side off the an equally rapid start but were both removed by Mohammad Nawaz before the end of the powerplay – Peshawar Zalmi 62 for 2 after six overs.

Nawaz picked up his third of the day shortly after, Haider Ali (19) caught behind by Sarfaraz Ahmed, but his dismissal brought Talat to the middle and the Central Punjab allrounder quickly took control.

Striking 52 runs from 29 balls, he added 81 runs in the company of Shoaib Malik for the fifth wicket before being removed by James Faulkner in the 17th with his side requiring 32 runs from 19 balls.

A tidy Naseem Shah death over kept the equation at a tricky 26 off 12 heading into the final two overs. However, Malik had other ideas, dispatching Faulkner for 22 runs (two fours and two sixes) in the 19th.

And despite Shah removing Rutherford at the start of the 20th, Malik kept a cool head to steer his side home with two balls to spare. He finished unbeaten on 48 (32 runs) while Shah (1 for 19) was the only Quetta bowler to concede fewer than nine runs per over.