PSL 9: Quetta Gladiators beat Karachi Kings by five wickets in last-ball thriller
Cricket
Rutherford and Hosein's partnership clinches win for the Gladiators
KARACHI (Dunya News) – A late partnership helped Quetta Gladiators pull off last-ball win over Karachi Kings in 16th game of the Pakistan Super League season nine (PSL 9) at National Stadium, Karachi, on Thursday.
In chase of 166-run target, Gladiators took a strong start as he opening pair Jason Roy smashed a fifty while Saud Shakeel made 24 before he was dismissed by Hasan Ali.
After his removal, the visitors suffered back to back blows as they lost three wickets in quick sessions. At this point Sherfane Rutherford and Akeal Hosein built much-needed partnership to seal the five-wicket nervy win over the hosts.
Earlier, Kings were put to bat first and they set a target of 166 runs for Quetta Gladiators.
The visitors got an early breakthrough when they removed Kings skipper Shan Masood for just two runs. His opening partner Tim Seifert tried to rack up the score after early losses but he was dismissed for lbw for 21 runs off 11.
Jame Vince remained top scorer from Kings as he made 37 before he fell prey to Usman Tariq. The middle and tail order kept putting up runs on score board, helping their side to build a fighting total for Gladiators.
Abrar Ahmed took three wickets while Usman Taria and Akeal Hosein claimed two wickets each.
The Karachi lads were defeated in their first match played on their home ground by the Islamabad United. They are expected to fight tooth and nail to down Quetta tonight.
Both the teams have played four matches each in the event of which Kings won two while Gladiators have three victories under their belt. Quetta Gladiators are at the second spot on the points table with six points while Karachi Kings are placed at fifth position.
