Pietersen 48 Quetta Gladiators second win in PSL 2018

The Englishman put his swansong tour into gear with a sparkling 48.

Kevin Pietersen put his swansong tour into gear by piloting the Quetta Gladiators to their second win on the bounce in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The Englishman, who had confirmed in January that the PSL would be his last as a professional cricketer, put the wheels back on the chase as Quetta defeated Islamabad United by six wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday night.

KP fell two runs short of what should have been a well-deserved half-century and he wasn?t there to see it through, but his 48 had done more than enough to stub Islamabad United’s hopes of successfully defending a miserly target.

Pietersen’s 48 from 34 with four boundaries and three sixes as well as an unbeaten 25 from Mohammad Nawaz saw the Gladiators chase down 135 with 17 balls to spare.

England fast bowler Steven Finn snapped up three for 35 but Islamabad United just didn’t have enough runs to defend.

Earlier, Sarfraz Ahmed, the Quetta Gladiators captain, proved lucky at the toss and told Islamabad United to have the first go on the surface.

And his bowlers backed that call by keeping Islamabad United on a tight leash, although there were sparks from opener Luke Ronchi and Misbah-ul-Haq, who was playing his first match of this edition.

Islamabad United just about managed to make 134 but that marker seemed to be under par for the course. And so it proved, as the Quetta Gladiators rollicked their way, without breaking much of a sweat on a cold night.

There were twin changes either side of the line-up with Rilee Rossouw and Jofra Archer making way for John Hastings and Mahmudullah, for Quetta, while Misbah, who missed the first two fixtures owing to a hamstring injury, returned to captain Islamabad. South African JP Duminy too got his first game for Islamabad.

The ones to drop out for Misbah and Duminy were Sahibzada Farhan and Andre Russell.

It was pretty much a stutter from Islamabad, except for that sixth over where Ronchi rocked up and handed Hastings a pasting, and that towering six by Misbah, off Hasan Khan, which was pure vintage.

But then, Quetta played a massive hand in Islamabad’s subdued innings and it spoke all the more about their bowlers, who kept things tight on a ground known for its short boundaries.

Ronchi did admirably well as wickets fell around him, those of his opening partner Chadwick Walton and one-down Asif Ali.

The Kiwi took matters into his own hands by welcoming Hastings in the sixth over by smoking his trans-Tasman rival for four boundaries and a six, the fourth boundary bringing up Islamabad’s 50. Hastings leaked 24 runs in that over, the most in the match.

Ronchi charged his way to 43 from 26 balls with seven boundaries and a six before being castled by 19-year-old left-arm spinner Hasan Khan.

Duminy was rusty, eating up more deliveries, 26, for 14 runs, before he was put out of his misery by Hastings, with Mohammad Nawaz gobbling up the catch.

Misbah made a 25-ball 22 with a boundary and a six, while Faheem Ashraf clubbed 21 from 13 balls with two sixes and a boundary, before being run out.

Brief scores:

Islamabad United: 134 for 7 in 20 overs (Luke Ronchi 43, Misbah-ul-Haq 22, Faheem Ashraf 21) lost to Quetta Gladiators: 135 for 4 in 17.1 overs (Kevin Pietersen 48, Mohammad Nawaz 25 not out, Asad Shafiq 22, Steven Finn 2-24) by 6 wickets.