Grant Elliott likes bowling to Pakistanis, that much is clear. Over a quarter of his international wickets (14 out of 54) are Pakistani batsmen. Most recently, in January, he took seven, cheap wickets across two Twenty20s and an ODI.
On Saturday in Sharjah, against the Karachi Kings he took 4-15, a format personal best, to set up a five-wicket win for Quetta Gladiators.
This one seals a spot for them in the play-offs. And that haul means Elliott now has seven wickets in just two matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) – admittedly though, only two of his total wickets are Pakistani batsmen.
Quetta hardly needed strengthening, but as a replacement for Thisara Perera and Jade Dernsbach, Elliott has brought in an unexpectedly handy dimension, and he has not even been needed to bat yet.
His bowling is in the tradition of the classic New Zealand dibbly dobbler, an amalgamation of Chris Harris, Gavin Larsen, Rod Latham and Willie Watson. On this Sharjah track at least, as Ravi Bopara has also shown, making the batsman wait an eternity for the ball to reach him, works beautifully.
Elliott began the collapse that saw Karachi slip from 63-1 to 126-9, only five boundaries coming in the last five overs. Elliott got useful support from all his bowlers and in some cases, the batsmen themselves; Imad Wasim’s second brain-freeze run-out of the tournament, for instance.
For a side with Quetta’s batting, 127 was never going to be a challenge; all five wins have come in chases. Without quite stamping his presence over this tournament, Ahmed Shehzad has looked in far better form than his recent international numbers suggest. His 27-ball 41 set up the chase perfectly, built on a collection of delectable late cuts and glides to the boundary: truly it was one for the photographers.
Kevin Pietersen sparkled briefly, much as he has done through the tournament. One big explosion of his shotmaking would not go amiss here, though he has been an engaging and involved presence around the side.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
