SHARJAH: Mohammad Nawaz bowled a brilliant last over as Quetta Gladiators came back from the death to qualify for the 2017 HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) final after conquering Peshawar Zalmi by one run at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.

Remarkably, Quetta replicated their victory in the first playoff last year by a similar margin against these very opponents, thereby booking their tickets for the title-decider at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.

Peshawar were overwhelming favourites at the start of the final, requiring just seven runs to overhaul Quetta’s tally of 200-7. But Nawaz made huge amends after being carted all over the ground in his previous three overs — 46 runs coming off them — by conceding only five runs on the first three deliveries despite being handicapped by a wet ball, courtesy of heavy dew.

And then in dramatic finish, Peshawar lost three wickets in as many balls. First Chris Jordan was caught behind and then Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali were both gone, run out by an alert Sarfraz Ahmed as they attempted to sprint to the other end in bring Peshawar captain Darren Sammy on strike.

The losers Peshawar, however, will get another opportunity to qualify for the final provided first they defeat winners of the second playoff — involving defending champions Islamabad United and Karachi Kings who will be in action here on Wednesday night — in Dubai on Friday.

In a breathtaking clash of giants, the first playoff fluctuated in favour of one and then the other until Quetta won in a cliffhanger.

Despite losing two wickets very quickly, Peshawar recovered magnificently thanks to a rousing third-wicket partnership of 142 — the best in this PSL — between Dawid Malan (56 off 30 balls, eight fours and one six) and Mohammad Hafeez, who returned to form with a scintillating 77 from 47 balls (six sixes and five fours).

After both fell, Shahid Afridi kept Peshawar alive by blasting 34 off only 13 balls with four huge sixes. But when he was superbly caught in the deep by Nawaz, Quetta were back in the frame.

Earlier, Ahmed Shehzad became the first player in the brief history of PSL to go past 500 runs — overtaking Lahore Qalandars’ Umar Akmal who scored 499 in 15 matches over the two seasons — after Sammy inserted Quetta into bat on a chilly night.

Taking advantage of good batting strip, the 25-year-old Shehzad registered his highest score in 19 PSL games by cashing in on sloppy Peshawar fielding to blast an explosive 71 from just 38 balls. The brutal onslaught brought currently out-of-favour Pakistan right-hander seven boundaries and four sixes — two each off Afridi and Sammy.

The defining moment of the innings, though, came in the seventh over when Pietersen smashed Mohammad Asghar for two consecutive sixes to bring up 200 sixes in his T20 career. Peshawar were clueless as to what had hit them so hard when Shehzad and Pietersen were motoring along like an electric train on its journey, after the early dismissal of Luke Wright, who came into the side for his first game this year, by putting on 90 in no time.

Scoreboard

QUETTA GLADIATORS:

Ahmed Shehzad c Wahab b Sammy 71L.J. Wright b Hasan 12K.P. Pietersen c Asghar b Wahab 40R.R. Rossouw b Wahab 17Sarfraz Ahmed run out 17Anwar Ali run out 20Saad Nasim b Wahab 9Mohammad Nawaz not out 1Hassaan Khan not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-4, NB-1) 12

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 200

FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-121, 3-132, 4-164, 5-188, 6-188, 7-199

DID NOT BAT: T.S. Mills, Zulfiqar Babar.

BOWLING: Hasan Ali 4-0-41-0; Mohammad Asghar 3-0-28-0; Jordan 4-0-30-0 (1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-40-3 (1nb, 2w); Shahid Afridi 2-0-20-0; Sammy 1-0-18-1; Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-16-0.

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Kamran Akmal c Pietersen b Zulfiqar 1D.J. Malan c and Mills 56M.N. Samuels run out 1Mohammad Hafeez c Saad b Nawaz 77Shahid Afridi c Nawaz b Anwar 34Haris Sohail b Nawaz 6D.J.G. Sammy not out 11C.J. Jordan c Sarfraz b Nawaz 0Wahab Riaz run out 0Hasan Ali run out 0

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-8) 13

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 199

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-3, 3-142, 4-157, 5-174, 6-193, 7-199, 8-199, 9-199.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Asghar.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 4-0-25-1; Zulfiqar Babar 4-0-28-1; Hassaan Khan 3-0-36-0; Mills 4-0-45-1 (6w); Mohammad Nawaz 4-0-51-3 (2w); Saad Nasim 1-0-9-0.

RESULT: Quetta Gladiators won by one run.

UMPIRES: Shozab Raza (Pakistan) and R.E.J. Martinesz (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: Ahsan Raza (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Ahmed Shehzad.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2017