Sharjah: Peshawar Zalmi had almost booked their tickets to play in the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Lahore on March 5. They needed only 20 runs off the last 18 balls with five wickets in hand and, in the last over, they had brought the equation down to a mere seven runs from six balls when Quetta’s Mohammad Nawaz bowled a magical over.
The sequence of the over went thus: 0, 4, 1, W, W, W. After having Chris Jordan caught behind for a duck, Nawaz bowled two perfect yorkers that the batsmen (Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali) played and missed and given the final-over jitters, ran themselves out to hand the match to Quetta.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium hence produced another edge-of-the seat thriller in the first play-off that saw Quetta ready to fly to Lahore for the title clash. Quetta’s reaching the final of the PSL for the second time in succession proves that a team can be successful provided they are backed by an intelligent captain and an efficient team management.
Safraz Ahmad, captain of Quetta who has been recently named skipper for One Day Internationals in addition to Twenty20 team, was asked whether he wants to see the same winning trend in Pakistan team too. “I want to transfer this spirit to Pakistan team too, that’s my main aim. I will try to do that because after all this PSL is to help Pakistan team and we have to give that Quetta spirit to Pakistan team too.”
Sarfraz then showered praise on Nawaz, who bowled the last over. “All credit to Nawaz who bowled a brilliant last over. There was so much dew but he kept his nerves under pressure after Ahmad Shehzad and Kevin Pietersen set the platform for our victory.”
Sarfraz feels that the match was similar to that of last edition. “Firstly, it was a great play-off match, there was tremendous competition and it was very similar to the play-off of the last edition of PSL. The only difference being this time we had to defend 200 runs and under the dew conditions it wasn’t easy to bowl second and defend the 200.”
On Sarfraz’s decision to give the last over to a slow left-arm spinner like Nawaz when only seven runs were needed, he said: “Nawaz is our main bowler and has been playing for Pakistan. I told him that if you bowl well then it will help his career. It’s good that young players are coming up. The way Nawaz bowled with so much dew was remarkable.”
Sarfraz also sportingly applauded Peshawar’s Shahid Afridi for his quickfire 34 off 13 balls with four sixes and a boundary, which almost upset his own plans. “Afridi has always been a superstar and continues to be a superstar as you have seen the way he has been performing these days. No amount of praise will be enough for him. He may have relaxed, feeling that only few runs were needed and he may have even thought that the match will finish an over earlier.”
Brief scores; Quetta Gladiators bt Peshawar Zalmi by one run. Quetta Gladiators 200 for 7 in 20 overs (Ahmad Shehzad 71, Kevin Pietersen 40, Anwar Ali 20, Wahab Riaz 3 for 40) vs Peshawar Zalmi 199 for one in 20 overs (Dawid Malan 56, Mohammad Hafeez 77, Shahid Afridi 34, Mohammad Nawaz 3 for 51). Man of the Match: Ahmad Shehzad.
