Injured Sammy steers Zalmi home in dramatic chase

SHARJAH: Skipper Darren Sammy's heroic cameo steered Peshawar Zalmi to victory against Quetta Gladiators in the mid-table clash held at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Zalmi chased down 142 runs in 19.4 overs, with injured Sammy hitting 16 off 4 balls on one leg to take his side home in a sensational clash.

Courtesy brilliant death over bowling by the Sammy-led team, Gladiators were restricted to a relatively low total.

Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz and Darren Sammy took two wickets each, while debutant Sameen Gul stood with one wicket in his four-over quota while conceding only 20 runs.

Second Innings

Kamran Akmal and Dwayne Smith were dismissed by Shane Watson and Muhammad Nawaz early in the innings. 

A breathtaking runout by Anwar Ali ended opener Tamim Iqbal's time on the crease. The timely wicket tilted the game in favour of Zalmi.

The cameo of Skipper Sammy; two sixes, one dot, and one four, was enough to take the team to home while limping due to injury. 

First Innings

Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first. 

Courtesy Shane Watson's 47 off 32, including five sixes and one four, Quetta received a strong start against Zalmi. The Aussie batsman's domination against Zalmi's spinner have changed the game in favour of men in purple. 

Spinner Khalid Usman gave Darren Sammy-led Zalmi, a much-needed breakthrough, but it appears that the damage has already been done.

Rilee Rossouw anchored Gladiators' innings by playing a knock of 37 runs off 25 balls, before getting dismissed on Umaid Asif's ball, the South African batsman hit two boundaries and sixes each.

Both the teams made changes to their playing XI.

Fast bowler Sameen Gul stepped in place of Ibtisam Sheikh and Sabbir Rahman replaced Chris Jordan for Zalmi. Gladiators made only one change, welcoming back Rilee Rossouw in place of Mahmudullah.

Quetta Gladiators

Head coach: Moin Khan

Captain: Sarfraz Ahmed

Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Rilee Rossouw, Jason Roy, Kevin Pietersen, Rameez Raja, Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Umar Amin, Mohammad Nawaz, Mahmudullah, Jofra Archer, Saad Ali, Saud Shakeel, Rashid Khan, Anwar Ali, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali

Peshawar Zalmi

Head coach: Mohammad Akram

Captain: Darren Sammy

Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Tamim Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Andre Fletcher, Riki Wessels, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail, Dwayne Bravo, Khushdil Shah, Umaid Asif, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Shabbir Rahman, Liam Dawson, Sameen Gul, Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar, Wahab Riaz