HBL PSL 8: Islamabad United beats Quetta Gladiators and secure place in playoffs
Thanks to responsible innings of Muhammad Nawaz, Najeebullah Zadran and Umar Akmal, Quetta scored 179 runs, Islamabad achieved target of 180 runs 3 balls before thanks to Colin Munro's half-century, Fazal Haq Farooqui, who took 3 wickets, was declared the best player
In the match played at Rawalpindi Cricket Ground, Islamabad United won the toss and decided to field.
Also read thisIn the 21st match of PSL 8, Islamabad United defeated Quetta Gladiators by 2 wickets and reached the play-off stage.
Quetta Gladiators had a disappointing start to the innings. Will Smid got out without scoring a run, Yasir Khan was also a guest for 5 runs while captain Sarfraz Ahmed was shown the way to the pavilion by a brilliant catch on the boundary by Mubaser Khan.
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Iftikhar Ahmed also got out after scoring only 2 runs, thus four wickets fell for a total of 17, after which Muhammad Nawaz and Najeebullah Zadran took over the batting line of Quetta and established a partnership of 104 runs, after which Muhammad Nawaz scored 52 runs. Got out.
Najeebullah Zadran also got out after playing a good innings of 59 runs, but Umar Akmal rained sixes as soon as he came in and scored 43 runs with the help of 5 sixes and 2 fours in just 14 balls to take his team’s score to 179 runs.
For Islamabad, Fazal Haq Farooqui dismissed 3, Faheem Ashraf 2 and Ruman Raees 1.
TOP KNOCK, YAAR!
We didn’t even change the match summary photo from last night. This duo worked their magic and turned the tables to @IsbUnited‘s favour. #HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #IUvQG pic.twitter.com/NWHBUr11Rs
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 5, 2023
Chasing the target of 180 runs, Islamabad did not get off to a good start and Rahmanullah Garbaz got lbw on the very first ball but Colin Munro played an aggressive inning of 63 runs off 29 balls.
I may look OK but deep down I want to watch @Umar96Akmal hit 17 in an over😻#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #IUvQG pic.twitter.com/z020odppTs
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 5, 2023
At one point, 6 players of Islamabad had returned to the pavilion for 111 runs, but after that, Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf again batted responsibly to advance the team’s score, but Azam Khan scored 35 runs on a total of 169. Caught out but Faheem Ashraf crossed Islamabad’s now 3 balls early and he remained unbeaten by scoring 39 runs.
What a comeback by the Purple Force to register a solid total on the board! Looking forward to the second innings 👏🏽#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #IUvQG pic.twitter.com/xxY8lbJL0e
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 5, 2023
Fazal Farooq who took 3 wickets of Islamabad United was declared the best player of the match.
Thus, Islamabad United managed to secure a place in the play-off stage after winning 5 out of 7 matches in the tournament. After losing 6 out of 7 matches, Quetta Gladiators’ access to the play-off stage is in a do-or-die situation.
