PSL 2025: Quetta pacer Mohammad Amir’s celebration after dismissing Babar Azam goes viral

Dubai: Half-centuries by openers Saud Shakeel and Finn Allen and a four-wicket haul by Abrar Ahmed led Quetta Gladiators to an 80-run win over Peshawar Zalmi in the second match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Quetta, put in to bat first, posted 216 for five in their 20 overs. The opening pair of Saud (59, 42b, 6x4s, 2x6s) and Allen (53, 25b, 5x4s, 4x6s) added 88 runs in just 7.1 overs, setting the tone for a big total.

Allen took on the Zalmi bowlers early, hitting 22 runs in an over off Sufyan Moqim before falling on its last ball, as per a press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Hasan Nawaz made 41 off 32 balls but got out to Alzarri Joseph. Saud was dismissed in the 16th over by Ali Raza, who claimed his maiden PSL wicket.

Quetta finished strongly with Rilee Rossouw (21 not out off 10) and Kusal Mendis (35 not out off 14), scoring 44 runs in the last three overs.

In reply, left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir was on fire as he dismissed Zalmi captain Babar Azam in the first over for a two-ball duck. Amir’s celebration after the dismissal went viral and before that he had a sledging match with young opener Saim Ayub, who made his comeback after a long injury layoff.

Abrar then dismissed Mohammad Haris and Tom Kohler-Cadmore in the same over to leave Zalmi reeling at 30 for three.

Saim Ayub scored a fighting fifty (38 balls, three fours and four sixes) but was dismissed soon after reaching the milestone.

Hussain Talat struck 35 off 19 balls, including two sixes against Shoaib Malik, before falling to Usman Tariq.

The mystery spinner also removed Max Bryant on the next ball and ended with two wickets. Zalmi could only manage 136 in 15.1 overs.

Former New Zealand batter and Islamabad United batter Colin Munro shattered Rossouw’s record for most fifty-plus scores in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with a strong display for Islamabad United against Lahore Qalandars in the opener on Friday.

Munro’s heroics washed away Lahore’s Abdullah Shafique’s individual effort of a quick-fire 66 from 38 deliveries. With his 13th fifty-plus score in his 48th appearance in Pakistan’s premier T20 tournament, Munro dethroned Rossouw from the top and scripted the record to his name. Overall. Munro boasts 1,476 runs in 48 appearances in the PSL.

Islamabad got off to a robust start and brushed aside Lahore with a thumping eight-wicket victory.

Apart from Munro’s sizzling unbeaten 59, Jason Holder played a starring role with the ball. He returned with figures of 4/26 to restrict Lahore to a paltry 139. Apart from Shafique’s brilliance and a handy 23-run knock from Sikandar Raza, the rest of the batting unit crumbled into dust.

Shafique found his rhythm for Islamabad United after a dry spell with the bat in the international circuit for Pakistan. His effortless display at No 3 allowed his side to limp to 139. In reply, Munro’s fiery knock and Salman Ali Agha’s 41 not out lifted Islamabad to a comfortable win for the defending champions in PSL Season 10.