Islamabad United 165/6 (20 ov)
Quetta Gladiators 164/5 (20ov)
Islamabad United won by 1 run
DUBAI // Mohammed Sami celebrated his birthday in style as he delivered an ice-cool final over to bring Islamabad United a remarkable one-run win over Quetta Gladiators.
The Pakistan fast bowler, who turned 36 on Friday, went for just three off the last six balls, giving the defending champions the points to put them into the play-offs.
For all the veteran bowler’s excellence, though, it was difficult to work out how the table-topping Gladiators managed to throw away a game that had seemed won.
Kevin Pietersen almost took Quetta to the win on his own. His personal HBL Pakistan Super League campaign reached another peak with a sparkling half-century.
In three of his past five innings in the competition, the former England captain has had two golden ducks and was once run out without scoring.
Despite that, Pietersen maintained his form was fine and he was seeing the ball well. He has proved that, firstly with 88 not out in 42 balls in Sharjah, and then with his 63 in 49 balls against.
His pyrotechnic effort was one half of a 133-run stand with Ahmed Shahzad, who made a second half-century in the space of 24 hours.
When they were together, Quetta were cruising, requiring just 16 from three overs with nine wickets left.
They contrived to throw it away, though. Islamabad’s starting XI have an average age of 32.5 between them, despite the presence of 18-year-old prodigy Shadab Khan.
When the pressure was on, though, Islamabad’s Dad’s Army proved to have all the cool heads. Rilee Rossouw hit the last ball to Misbah-ul-Haq for a single, when Quetta needed two to force a super over.
The pressure is now off Islamabad, whose final match against Karachi on Saturday would otherwise have been winner-takes-all.
pradley@thenational.ae
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