Umar Akmal's 75-run blitz paved the way for Quetta Gladiators to defeat Peshawar Zalmi with six wickets in hand in their 2019 Pakistan Super League showdown at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Peshawar Zalmi innings

The Gladiators won the toss and decided to bowl first, leaving Zalmi to set the match target.

The first Zalmi player down was Fletcher courtesy Mohammad Irfan at 2.2 overs whereas the second man down was Kamran Akmal who was caught by Rossouw off Mohammad Nawaz's ball.

Shoaib Maqsood was the third scalp claimed by the Gladiators on Ghulam Mudassar's delivery.

The fourth wicket to go was Kieron Pollard which was taken by Mohammad Nawaz.

The last two men to remain standing were Liam Dawson and Misbahul Haq as the Gladiators took four wickets in 20 overs.

Wahab Riaz remained the lead wicket taker from the side with 2 wickets, while Umaid Asif and Hasan Ali each took one over the course of 4 overs bowled by each.

Kamran Akmal and Misbahul Haq each scored one run shy of a half century.

Quetta Gladiators innings

At the beginning of the innings, the Gladiators were given the task of managing an average of 7.8 runs per over to successfully obtain the target of 156 runs. They remained at over 7 runs per over for the most part of the innings.

Umar Akmal and Sarfaraz Ahmed put up a commendable partnership with Umar scoring 50 before Sarfaraz got out at 37 on Wahab Riaz's delivery.

Sarfaraz's replacement, D R Smith scored 11 runs from 9 balls.

At the end, Mohammad Nawaz had two wickets to his name, Mohammad Irfan had one and Ghulam Mudassar had one, with each having bowled four overs.

Umar Akmal was the top run scorer with 75 runs from 50 balls.

Line-ups

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Dwayne Smith, Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Watson, Ghulam Muddassir, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Fawad Ahmed

Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran, Fletcher, Maqsood, Misbah, Pollard, Dawson, Sammy, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Umaid Asif, Sameen Gul