Imad Wasim shines as Islamabad United advances toward the championship

With their victory over Quetta Gladiators in the first eliminator, Islamabad United advanced to the PSL 2024 championship game. Imad Wasim was outstanding with the ball. Martin Guptill with the bat. Thus, on Saturday, March 16, Islamabad will take against Peshawar Zalmi in the second elimination round, with the victor going up against Multan Sultans in the summit match.

Quetta got off to a strong start with the ball thanks to a hat-trick of boundaries struck by Martin Guptill in the second over. Alex Hales then hit Abrar Ahmed for two sixes in a single over. But Akeal Hosein held things tight and eventually removed the Englishman at the same time. There was a pause until Martin Guptill and Agha Salman embarked on a boundary-slaying binge, which left Islamabad well-positioned at the midway point.

Shadab Khan made a brief appearance following Salman’s ejection, while Azam Khan struck two sixes and a four in his 6-ball eighteen. But despite Guptill’s fifty, these two failing to get going had an impact, as Islamabad could only muster 174 at the end due to a rush of wickets. Eventually, that sum proved to be more than sufficient as Imad grabbed the lead on the powerplay.

In the opening over of the chase, the left-arm spinner removed Shakeel for a five-ball duck. Jason Roy, however, edged Naseem Shah behind to the slip cordon two balls later. Imad lowered the tempo again on a pitch that was helping spin. Quetta lost three of its wickets in three overs when Rilee Rossouw was out after trying to get a clean connection. Imad then finished off a fantastic powerplay stint with another wicket.  They was followed right away by a run out that left the batting side astonished. Quetta had little chance of going back at 16/5.

Observing the procession from one end, Omair Yousuf scored a half-century. Quetta also had important cameos full of boundaries from players like Hosein and Amir. However, the powerplay’s hits had caused enough damage, as the pursuing team ultimately lost very easily.