As cricket is back in Pakistan. All matches will be playing in different cities of Pakistan after almost 10 years. The full-packed Karachi crowd was eagerly waiting for the 1st clash of Pakistan Super League between the two times champions Islamabad United and the defending champions Quetta Gladiators. Where Quetta beats Islamabad in Match 1 of the HBL PSL 5.
Quetta the defending Champions beats Islamabad United by 3 wickets. The underdog of Pakistan super League once again showed by their performance that why they are the best among all.
Quetta Gladiator won the toss and elected to bowl first.
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Match Summary
Gladiators start like champion and on the very first ball, Muhammad Nawaz dismissed hard-hitting batsman Colin Munro than Sohail Khan removed the other opener Luke Ronchi. David Malan the English batsman played well and his half-century pushed Islamabad to the 100-mark in the 11th. Ben Cutting came into the attack and removed the set batsman David Malan
After that Islamabad failed in the face of bowling attack and wind up their innings five balls short on 168 of the total.
Husnain astonished everyone with his spell and dismissed four players. Ben Cutting removed three players and added to that Nawaz was the one who picked the first wicket on the very first ball of the innings.
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Islamabad united started off well with the ball. Muhammad Musa so brilliantly didn’t concede a run in his first nine balls and dismissed Jason Roy. Emerging category fast bowler Akif Javed’s puzzled the experienced Shane Watson with his brilliant bowling and spell.
Islamabad still made their game by destroying the power play and removing Shane Watson and Ahmed Shahzad but during the middle overs they dropped many catches and give away easy runs that help Skipper Sarfraz and Muhamad Azam to build their partnership.
Brief Score
(Islamabad United) Dawid Malan 64, Luke Ronchi 23, Faheem Ashraf 20, Mohammad Hasnain 4-25, Ben Cutting 3-31, Sohail Khan 2-21. Islamabad United 168 all-out, 19.1 overs.
(Quetta Gladiators) Azam Khan 59, Mohammad Nawaz 23, Ben Cutting 22 not out, Sarfaraz Ahmed 21; Mohammad Musa 3-30. Quetta Gladiators 171-7, 18.3 overs
Azam Khan Smashing 59 get Gladiators on the Line
Our Gladiator Azam Khan requesting #PurpleForce fans to come and support Quetta Gladiators!#WeTheGladiators #ShanePakistan #HBLPSLV pic.twitter.com/iZgvbGxTRm
— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) February 21, 2020
Azam Khan’s smashing 59 runs at the crucial time bring back Quetta in the line. Supporting knock by Nawaz and thrilling finish by Ben Cutting bring Quetta to the top of the point table and becomes the first team to register points at this year’s PSL.
Muhammad Musa who was not less than horror for Quetta in his first 3 overs but his last overturned to be an expensive one with 19 runs.
Player of the Match
The 19 years old Muhammad Husnain bowled brilliantly, dismissed 4 players on 25, ensuring Islamabad United wouldn’t even bat their full 20 overs and became Player of the match.
Added to this Azam Khan was the reason Quetta opened their title defense with a win. These two young champs help their team to win their 1st match of PSL V.
Conclusion
Both the teams are most successful teams in the competition but Quetta once again showed why they are champions and won by 3 wickets while it hasn’t been the happy start for Shadab Khan as a captain.
For all that had gone against Islamabad in the opening match now, they will be back with the bang as they have to win their next match to open points against Multan Sultans on Saturday and Gladiator’s next clash is with Peshawar Zalmi on the same day.
