Riaz celebrates Zalmi captaincy promotion with a win

Peshawar Zalmi's Shoaib Malik celebrates after scoring a half-century against the Quetta Gladiators on Thursday. -AFP

Left-arm quick Wahab Riaz celebrated his promotion to the captaincy by guiding Peshawar Zalmi to their third win in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Thursday night.
Riaz, who had earlier stood-in for regular skipper Darren Sammy following which the West Indian relinquished the role to become player-coach, snapped up three wickets to derail the Quetta Gladiators by 30 runs at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
It was not just Riaz though who played a part as former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik scored his second half-century on the trot to help them post 170 for six.
The match was reduced to 15 overs-a-side following a delayed start of 90 minutes because of a wet outfield.
Riaz and the rest of the bowlers then restricted the Gladiators to 140 for seven.
This was Zalmi's seventh win in 16 matches against the Gladiators, who still lead their head-to-head record with eight victories. It was also Zalmi's third win batting first.
Earlier, put into bat by Gladiators' skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Zalmi lost wickets at regular intervals but handy partnerships took them along to a competitive total.
Malik top scored with 54, his second half-century of this edition, after he had made 68 against the Karachi Kings. One-down batsman Haider Ali too played a cameo, coming up with a 24-ball 39, that was peppered with four boundaries and two sixes.
Malik's knock came from 27 deliveries and contained eight boundaries and one hit over the fence.
The one who did the damage was the young Mohammad Hasnain with the 19-year-old pacer snaffling four wickets for 34 runs.
The Gladiators began the chase well with the openers Watson and Roy going full throttle up top before the Australian fell after clubbing four boundaries in his 14-ball 19.
Roy, who had blazed his way to an unbeaten 73 when the two sides had previously met, continued in the same vein, smoking five boundaries and two sixes before he was foxed by leg spinner Yasir Shah. The Englishman took just 26 deliveries for his 45.
But once Ahmed Shehzad and Ben Cutting were gone, the wheels came off the chase. The Gladiators eventually wound up at 140 for seven.
Brief scores:
Peshawar Zalmi: 170 for 6 in 15 overs (Shoaib Malik 54, Haider Ali 39, Kamran Akmal 23, Mohammad Hasnain 4-34) beat Quetta Gladiators: 140 for 7 in 15 overs (Jason Roy 45, Wahab Riaz, 3-21, Rahat Ali 2-34) by 30 runs.
Man of the Match: Shoaib Malik.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 

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