Sammy leads Zalmi to thrilling victory

Captain Darren Sammy hit 16 runs off just four balls to lead Peshawar Zalmi to a five-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators in a nail-biting contest in the Pakistan Super League at Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.Chasing 142 for victory, Zalmi were 125 for 5 in 18.3 overs, when Sammy walked into the middle. The West Indian all-rounder, who was hobbling with an injury, struck the first ball he faced for a six to bring the down target to 10 off six balls. After Khalid Usman picked a two and a single in the first two balls of the 20th over, Sammy came on strike. The captain kept his nerves, tonking seamer Anwar Ali for a six over square leg and then finished it off with down the ground shot for four as Zalmi sneaked to a famous win. Tamim Iqbal (36) and Mohamed Hafeez (29) also played a key role in Zalmi’s victory. “We needed the win today. Quetta did well to bring it back after our start. Credit goes to our bowlers. Gul, in his first match, bowled excellent. And everyone else backed up. It was a good win,” Sammy said after picking the Man of the Match award.“I always intended to bat today, that’s why I didn’t go to the MRI already. I’ve been in this situation before. Just had to look at the equation – it was just three hits away. It happened today. We’re gonna enjoy tonight and come back again on Saturday,” he added.Earlier, wickets in regular intervals and impressing fielding show kept things under control for Zalmi as Gladiators’ batsmen found it hard to score runs. Despite Shane Watson’s 47 and Rilee Rossouw’s 25-ball 37, Gladiators could only manage to post only 141.