Quetta bowling attack restrict Islamabad to 134

Sharjah:-In the ninth fixture of Pakistan Super League (PSL-3), Sarfraz-led Quetta Gladiotors won the toss and opted to bowl against Misbah-led Islamabad United at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

From beginning, the bowlers kept it hard for batsmen to score boundaries as bounce varied throughout the innings. As pressure mounted, Walton tried to go big but was dismissed by Anwar Ali. The right-hand batsman managed only 10 runs on seven balls. Asif Ali followed him shortly in the fifth over. He scored merely one run.

Ronchi’s blitz in the middle changed the equation for a while. He hammered 24 runs in the last over of the power-play. However, 19-year-old Hassan Ali dented the momentum by removing set batsman. Ronchi made blitzing 43 on just 26 balls. His innings included seven 4s and one 6.

After Ronchi’s departure, Misbah and Duminy failed to score boundaries at regular intervals. Duminy fell after wasting 26 precious deliveries. He tried to up the pace by going over the bowler s head. Good-length ball on leg stump that cramped Duminy up just a bit. Misbah followed him soon.

Quetta kept things under check and United managed only 134 runs in allotted 20 overs at the cost of seven wickets.

Misbah-ul-Haq has joined the United’s squad after missing first two games. To strengthen the batting department, South African explosive batsman JP duminy has also joined the United team in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Gladiators have made two changes as John Hastings and Mahmudullah made a comeback.

Islamabad XI: Luke Ronchi, Chadwick Walton, Asif Ali, JP Duminy, Misbah ul Haq (c), Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Rumman Raees, Mohammad Sami, Steven Finn

Quetta XI: Asad Shafiq, Shane Watson, Umar Amin, Kevin Pietersen, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, John Hastings, Rahat Ali, Hassan Khan