Zalmi looked to be in control of the chase but failed to make seven of the last over.

By Abdullah Ansari (28th February, 2016)

Peshawar Zalmi Team

Dawid Malan, Kamran Akmal, Mohamamd Hafeez, Marlon Samuels, Haris Sohail, Darren Sammy*, Shahid Afridi, Chris Jordan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Asghar.

Quetta Gladiators Team

Luke Wright, Ahmed Shehzad, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfraz Ahmed*, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Hassan Khan, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Tymal Mills.

Sammy won the toss and opted to field as both teams made some changes with Wright, Nasim and Anwar returning for Quetta while Malan, Haris and Jordan came in for Peshawar. The openers began aggressively scoring at around 10 an over. Hasan made the first breakthrough as Wright was done in by a change of pace and chopped on for 12. KP got going with a massive six off Wahab that went out of the stadium while Shehzad hit fours at opportune moments to keep the score ticking over. The two ferociously attacked the spinners and medium pacers as Shehzad reached fifty off 29 balls. He hit four sixes en route to 71 off 38 before he was caught off Sammy. KP was finally dismissed by Wahab for 40 off 22 and the innings stalled after that as Rossouw and Sarfraz failed to kick on with a prolonged period without boundaries. Rossouw's stay was brought to an end by Wahab. Anwar came in and hit a couple of fours before both he along with Sarfraz both got run out in the same over. Nasim finished with two fours of Wahab before being dismissed as Quetta made 200/7.

Zalmi's start was abysmal as Kamran played a tight over from Anwar then got out to Zulfiqar. Samuels followed suit in the same over after a mix-up with Malan and was run out. Malan and Hafeez were cautious and consolidated in the powerplay before taking on the bowlers. Hafeez took the majority of the strike as the spinners barring Zulfiqar were smashed to all parts of the stadium with the Professor hitting some big sixes. He got to his fifty off 36 balls and smashed Hassan for three sixes in an over. Malan got to his fifty as well, off just 25 balls but Hafeez went for one shot too many and was caught. Afridi was promoted up the order and signalled his intentions with a four and six off Anwar. Malan was caught and bowled by Mills but Afridi hit back by smashing one onto the roof off the fast-bowler. Haris was dismissed by Nawaz but Afridi again hit a big six with the equation down to almost run a ball. Another six off Anwar brought it down to 8 off 9 but then Afridi was dismissed as Nawaz took a good catch to dismiss him. 7 off the last over were needed and Sammy hit a four and took a single to make it 2 off 3 but Jordan, Wahab and Hasan all were dismissed in a stunning finale as Peshawar lost by one run - again.

Next match: Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings

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