In the previous match, their hero was Martin Guptill who played a key knock of 52 balls 90 runs to help Gladiators chase down 69 runs off last 5 overs. Jason Roy joined the team just after returning from Bangladesh tour where he played centurian knock in Mirpur.
Talking about the match, Peshawar Zalmi batted first and posted 240 runs on board. Babar Azam (116 off 65 balls) played a sublime innings but it was massively overshadowed by Roy’s bludgeoning havoc. It was Babar’s 8th T20 ton and first in the PSL, now he is only second to Chris Gayle in terms of scoring tons in T20 cricket.
Saim Ayub continued to impress with his ball striking abilities, bashing 74 off 34 balls and shared 162 runs partnership for the first wicket in 13.3 overs. A handy knock from Rovman Powell pushed the score above 230 for the team.
As the chase started, Quetta Gladiotrs were looking to attack from the first ball. The Pindi pitch was absolutely flat, providing nothing to the bowlers. Previous match hero Martin Guptill once again made his intentions clear 8 balls 21, but he was dismissed by experts Wahab Riaz.
For the second wicket, Will Smeed and Jason Roy shared 109 runs partnership with Smeed only scoring 26 off 22 balls while Roy being the aggressor throughout the innings. The required run rate started with 12 and was soon brought under 11 because Gladiators continued to attack and score runs all over the ground.
Definitely it was 93 runs partnership in 38 balls between Jason Roy and Professor Hafeez that changed the game entirely and pushed out Zalmi from the fight. Hafeez scored 41 off 18 balls while Jason Roy brought his century 44 balls with the help of 15 fours and 3 sixes.
It was an unbelievable match, only four wickets fell in entire game of 40 overs. Bowlers could only get 3 while one wicket of Babar Azam came in run out effort. Two batters scored century and one of them came in winner’s advantage.
Player of the Match is Jason Roy said, “I just went out there and had some fun. I had to pretty much go hard from ball one chasing a big total but on that wicket and these boundaries, it was a hell of a lot of fun. You have to go after everyone. It was just one of those days and seemed to come off as well. Extremely happy with it and it was a long time coming.”
“On pitches like this and these boundaries, all you have to do is play proper shots. None of the boundaries felt ungettable. So it was very tough for the bowlers out there. It’s just a shame that we’ve not been where we want to be this tournament but today is definitely something to smile about. In T20, it’s as good as I’ve ever played. Chasing that total is something that doesn’t happen often so I’m going to cherish this.”