Roy's Blazing Ton Scripts Quetta's Win In A Run-Fest At Rawalpindi
Babar Azam's maiden PSL ton went in vain (Twitter)
Quetta Gladiators pulled off a sensational eight-wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi in their do-or-die league game, courtesy of Jason Roy's brutal unbeaten 145. The Gladiators gave ample display of their batting firepower on a belter of a track at the Pindi Club Ground in Rawalpindi to overhaul the target with 10 balls to spare in what turned out to be a thrilling floodlit contest between the two teams.
Babar smashes his maiden PSL ton
Peshawar Zalmi got off to a great start as skipper Babar Azam looked aggressive, scoring at a brisk rate in the very first two overs of the innings. Carrying his good form from the last game left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub also played his natural game and assisted his skipper very well. The pair put on 67 runs on the board in powerplay overs.
Both batters took calculative risks and kept finding boundaries at regular intervals. Soon both the openers completed their half-centuries and also scored second consecutive century partnership. At the halfway mark, Peshawar had scored 110 runs. Babar again took the aggressive route and kept his foot on the paddle to grow their partnership to 162 runs. However, they couldn't break the long-standing records of the then Karachi Kings’ opening pair of Babar and Sharjeel Khan’s 176 as Dwaine Pretorius provided a much-needed breakthrough for the Gladiators by outfoxing young Saim with a slower ball.
Babar reached his first PSL century in the 18th over with a four and he struck two sixes and 14 fours as he scored 100 off 60 balls. The Gladiators bowlers did claw their way back into the game towards the latter stages with some tight overs but by then the damage was almost done.
In the last over of the first innings, Babar got run out after scoring 115 runs off 65 balls with the help of 3 sixes and 15 fours. Promoted at number 3, big-hitting Rovman Powell provided the finishing touches as Peshawar ended with 240 runs for the loss of two wickets after 20 overs.
Roy's ton stuns Peshawar
The Gladiators needed a blistering start to harbor any hopes of chasing 241 down or even getting close to the victory target. Quetta's openers- Jason Roy and Martin Guptill were very clear in the way they wanted to approach this mammoth run chase. Both players started taking down the Peshawar bowlers. Like Roy, Guptill also started well but couldn't capitalize on the brilliant start and was dismissed on a personal score of 21 coming in just 8 deliveries as Quetta lost their first wicket for 41 runs.
Will Smeed joined countrymen Roy in the middle but the rookie batter was more of a spectator from the other end as Roy kept on his assault over the toothless Peshawar bowlers and kept them in the game. They had to go at a rate of more than 12 right from the outset and Roy ensured that the required rate was always in Quetta's control.
Despite losing his partner, Roy had no intention to slow down as he completed his half-century inside the powerplay. The Gladiators had 88 runs in six overs. Soon Quetta completed the team's century in the seventh over, Roy scoring 70 of them. Smeed also started to free his arms but his innings was cut short by a stunning catch from Mohammad Haris. Mujeeb Ur Rehman broke the match-defining 109-run partnership for the second wicket between Roy and Smeed.
With as many as eight wickets in the shed, the Gladiators needed 91 off the last eight overs when their most experienced batter Mohammad Hafeez came out to bat and joined forces with Roy. Peshawar bowlers seemed to be clueless against Roy and he was in no mood to spare them on a beautiful batting wicket.
He got to his century in the 14th over. His hundred was the second-fastest century in PSL history, coming off just 44 balls. Hafeez on the other hand wasted no little time to settle down and bought his A game in the play. Roy and Hafeez shared an unbeaten stand of 93 runs to take the Gladiators over the line. Roy's marathon innings of 145 was studded with 20 fours and 5 sixes while Hafeez, playing the supporting role remained unbeaten on 41 off 18 deliveries, laced with 6 fours and a couple of maximums.
Brief Scores:
Peshawar Zalmi: 240/2 (20 overs)
Babar Azam 115 (65), Saim Ayub 74(34);
Dwaine Pretorius 1/40(4)
Quetta Gladiators: 241/2 (18.2 overs)
Jason Roy 145*(63), Mohammad Hafeez 41*(18)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1/38(4), Wahab Riaz 1/56 (4)
Match Result: Quetta Gladiators won by eight wickets
 "Vaibhav Tripathi")
