With their victory over Quetta Gladiators in the first eliminator, Islamabad United advanced to the PSL 2024 championship game. Imad Wasim was outstanding with the ball. Thus, on Saturday, March 16, Islamabad will take on Peshawar Zalmi in the second elimination round, with the victor going up against Multan Sultans in the summit match.
Quetta got off to a strong start with the ball thanks to a hat-trick of boundaries struck by Martin Guptill in the second over. Alex Hales then hit Abrar Ahmed for two sixes in a single over, but Akeal Hosein held things tight and eventually removed the Englishman at the same time. There was a lull before Guptill and Agha Salman went on a boundary-slaying binge, which left Islamabad well-positioned at the midway point.
Shadab Khan made a brief appearance following Salman’s ejection, and Azam Khan struck two sixes and a four in his 6-ball eighteen. But despite Guptill’s fifty, these two failing to get going had an impact, as Islamabad could only muster 174 at the end due to a rush of wickets. Eventually, that sum proved to be more than sufficient as Imad took the lead on the powerplay.
In the opening over of the chase, the left-arm spinner removed Shakeel for a five-ball duck. Jason Roy edged Naseem Shah behind to the slip cordon two balls later. Imad lowered the pace again on a pitch that was helping spin, and Quetta lost three wickets in three overs as Rilee Rossouw was out after failing to get a clean connection. Imad then finished off a fantastic powerplay spell with another wicket, which was followed right away by a run out that left the batting side astonished. Quetta had little chance of going back at 16/5.
Observing the procession from one end, Omair Yousuf scored a half-century, and Quetta also had important cameos full of boundaries from players like Hosein and Amir. However, the powerplay’s hits had caused enough damage, as the pursuing team ultimately lost very easily.
Brief scores: Quetta Gladiators 135 in 18.4 overs (Omair Yousuf 50, Akeal Hosein 31; Imad Wasim 3/12) lost to Islamabad United 174/9 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 56, Agha Salman 31; Mohammed Amir 2/20) by 39 runs.
