More misery for Sarfaraz as Quetta Gladiators lose 4th straight

Quetta Gladiators’ march towards the exit door of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 continued on Tuesday as they lost their fourth straight match of the tournament - this time a six-wicket defeat to Islamabad United at the National Stadium Karachi.

The architects of Quetta’s downfall were Islamabad pacers Hasan Ali and Faheem, who wrecked Quetta’s top order and combined for five wickets.

Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed impressed again with a battling half century. That and a pair of cameos from Ben Cutting and Mohammad Nawaz got Quetta to 156-7, which was never going to prove enough to defend in a tournament that had seen 11 consecutive run chase prior to this match.

The start to Islamabad’s innings was as impressive as Quetta’s was disappointing. Paul Sterling gave them a flying start reminiscent of former United favourite Luke Ronchi.

The Irishman contributed 56 and his opening partner Alex Hales 23 before Rohail Nazir chipped in with a 34 as Quetta pacers struggled immensely to get their line and length right.

Islamabad slowed down a bit in the second half of their innings but eventually got to their target.

While mathematically not out of the tournament yet, Quetta’s margin of error has all but vanished.

Line-ups

Islamabad United XI: Paul Stirling, Rohail Nazir (wk), Alex Hales, Shadab Khan (capt), Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Musa Khan.

Quetta Gladiators XI: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt/wk), Faf du Plessis, Cameron Delport, Azam Khan, Saim Ayub, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mehmood, Dale Steyn, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah.

You can read our full match preview here.

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