LAHORE: The eighth match of the ninth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) between Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United has sparked controversy over DRS decisions
During the Gladiators’ chase, skipper Rilee Rossouw attempted a shot off Agha Salman on the last ball of the 11th over. Rossouw missed the ball and hit his pad with the umpires giving LBW.
During review, DRS technology showed that the ball had missed the stumps, overturning the decision as not out.
Shadab was furious after they lost by three wickets, blaming the defeat on technology.
“I think the technology was to blame for that loss. We were shown a different ball than the review (Rossouw’s review),” he said.
“I bowled 4 overs as a leg spinner, it didn’t spin much. This one showed outside impact and kept spinning. There shouldn’t be mistakes like this in a big tournament like this,” he added.
It should be noted that Quetta Gladiators beat Islamabad United by three wickets.
With this win, the Gladiators claimed their third win and are one of the only two teams to achieve a hat-trick with Multan Sultans.
Chasing a target of 145, the Gladiators had to work hard to reach the finish line. On the back of captain Rilee Rossouw’s 34, they chased down the total in 19th place, while Mohammad Amir chipped in with a valuable 11.
At the start of the chase, Jason Roy put in an impressive performance as he scored 37 runs off 18 balls at a remarkable strike rate of 205.55.
Roy’s partner Saud Shakeel was dismissed in the second match with Naseem Shah today. Meanwhile, Khawaja Nafay contributed 9 runs off 9 balls before Rumman Raees was dismissed
The team faced early setbacks but Rilee Rossouw, serving as captain, showed resilience and finished the innings scoreless with a commendable score of 34 runs off 38 balls, maintaining a steady strike rate of 89.47.
The team experienced further setbacks when Sarfaraz Ahmed was lbw by Shadab Khan after contributing only 1 run off 6 balls. Sherfane Rutherford played a significant role as he scored 29 runs off 23 balls but eventually succumbed to Naseem Shah.
Akeal Hosein faced an unfortunate run out, managing to contribute 8 runs off 2 balls.
Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Amir managed to add some runs to the total with Amir not out with 11 runs off 6 balls with an excellent strike rate of 183.33. The team closed their innings with a total score of 139/7 in 18.2 overs, maintaining a run rate of 7.58.
For United, Naseem and Shadab took two wickets each, while Hunain and Rumman took one.
The previously formidable UK batting line-up managed to score 138/9 in the allotted 20 overs after being asked to bat first.
The two-time champions started their innings very well, with Alex Hales hitting two consecutive sixes against Akeal Hosein in the third over. However, Přáněl repaid him and released him with another delivery.
Hales also managed to score a boundary in his short innings, amassing a nine-ball 21.
After an initial setback, Salman Ali Agha joined forces with Colin Munro and stabilized the innings with a 40-run partnership.
The pair appeared to have settled before Abrar Ahmed removed Munro in the eighth over, with the team’s score on 69.
Munro struggled with a scrappy 20 off 22 deliveries, including one boundary and a six.
His dismissal triggered a collapse in the middle order as United slipped to 87/5 in 11.3 overs, with batsman Agha also departing.
Agha became United’s top scorer with a 23-ball 33 with five boundaries.
With United facing significant challenges, Imad Wasim and Jordan Cox carefully built a partnership for the sixth wicket but found it challenging against a formidable Gladiators bowling attack.
They added just 18 runs to the total before Abrar dismissed Imad in the 16th over, who managed to score nine off 15 deliveries. Cox, on the other hand, fell at 18 after scoring 20 off 14 deliveries.
Abrar and Mohammad Wasim Jr claimed three wickets for the Gladiators while Hosein secured two.
