PSL season 4’s last game in UAE before all the action shifts to Karachi. Islamabad United would be taking on Quetta Gladiators who already qualified for the playoffs and a victory in this game would just secure their position in the top 2.
Before we get into the game, let’s talk about the toss and how much teams depend on it. Since the start of the PSL, Islamabad United have won the toss 16 times and have won 14 of those games, every time they have won the toss they have elected to chase. So when they won the toss it was no surprise that they sent in Quetta Gladiators to bat.
But that decision to chase seem to have backfired, Quetta posted 180 and with this pitch expected to slow down as the game progressed it did look like the chase would have been a steep one.
Ahmed Shehzad lead the Gladiators batting, using his feet well against the spinners and attacking them by coming down the track. He did not let Shadab Khan settle down by using his feet and going back in the crease as well. Rilee Rossouw and Umar Akmal were free to play their natural game around Shehzad who took on the anchor role in the partnership. They both combined 50 runs in their 34 balls.
The dew was a major factor in Abu Dhabi as the bowlers had troubles with gripping the ball and it showed as they bowled 12 extra deliveries, these extra deliveries just cost them 17 runs at the end of the day. But they were deliveries which could have been avoided, Amad Butt was the worst culprit of those wides sending down 4 of them.
Faheem Ashraf was the pick of the bowlers going for 18 runs in his 4 overs while picking 4 wickets (Azam Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Sarfraz Ahmed and Sohail Tanvir), the difference between United chasing 200 and 180 was his bowling.
If United had any chance to chase this total down it would depend on Luke Ronchi and he did not disappoint as he scored 64, but his dismissal at a crucial juncture of the stage left United down in the doldrums.
The rest of the batting could not come to grips with slowness of the pitch with Mohammad Nawaz and Fawad Ahmed doing some damage in the middle overs as they picked 4 wickets for 53 runs in the overs between them.
United struggle against the spinners on a slowing pitch and it showed as the batsmen who were not Ronchi scored 68 runs in 77 balls. It was a poor performance with the ball and a poorer performance with the bat.
Good news for Islamabad United is that their fate for the playoffs remain with them, a win against Lahore Qalandars in Karachi will be good enough to see them through to the playoffs.