Zalmi vs Gladiators, 25th Match at Rawalpindi, PSL 2023, Mar 08 2023 - Match Result

10.36 pm If you thought what Islamabad United did yesterday was special chasing the second highest target in PSL history with a ball to spare, well... Jason Roy decided to not just raise but double down. The previous highest successful chase in PSL history was a target of 207. Gladiators chase down a target of 241 with a whopping 10 balls to spare. Only four wickets fall in the entire match, and just three of them go to bowlers.

Martin Guptill of Quetta Gladiators: "Unbelievable J Roy. Probably one of the best T20 innings I've ever seen. I'm speechless. The striking from start to finish was incredible. [On the pitch] I'm pretty happy to roll that one up and take it with me. Originally we were told we needed to win in 13.2 overs to have a decent chance to qualify for the playoffs. But to chase 240 with 10 balls to spare is pretty special. Hopefully we have a bit of momentum and can scrape through to qualify. Babar is a great player. He's not gonna hurt you with brutal hitting or anything like that but he takes the game away with classical cricket shots and it was good to watch."

Player of the Match is Jason Roy: "I just went out there and had some fun. I had to pretty much go hard from ball one chasing a big total but on that wicket and these boundaries, it was a hell of a lot of fun. You have to go after everyone. It was just one of those days and seemed to come off as well. Extremely happy with it and it was a long time coming. On pitches like this and these boundaries, all you have to do is play proper shots. None of the boundaries felt ungettable. So it was very tough for the bowlers out there. It's just a shame that we've not been where we want to be this tournament but today is definitely something to smile about. In T20, it's as good as I've ever played. Chasing that total is something that doesn't happen often so I'm going to cherish this."

That'll do it for today's coverage. Come back tomorrow for some more PSL action. Until then, take care!

Gladiators are the first PSL team to hit 39 boundaries in a PSL match. 30 fours and nine sixes. And there's still time to add to that.

Dr. Arbab : "Why the discussion is about Babar? Why bot about Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, and Aamer Jamal? "

Fuzzy: "All that talk about Babar and Roy and strike rates. But what needs highlighting is Peshawar's bowling lineup. They clearly don't have a bowling unit on par with other teams. Even their most senior player i.e. Wahab is getting smashed all round the ground."

Aslan: "Whoever is critising Babar, please criticise Powell as well for his less than 200 strike rate in death overs. Sometimes you just need to applaud opponent's brillance and we have to remember Quetta had Naseem "

nabeel: "well whatever type of pitch it is 240 should be defended by your bowling as you cannot expect more than that from your batters so if PZ looses today it will be a shameful defeat and their bowlers will be their culprit not babar."

Aafaq Khan: "This is what happens when everyone thinks their opinion is valid. Babar scored a century (!) with a very healthy strike rate, a feat few can accomplish. Just because Roy has eclipsed that innings, does not mean Babar's innings wasn't magnificent in its own right. How about we just appreciate cricketing greatness?"

Vinay: "Once Australian players dominated the world cricket by their ruthlessness, now English players are dominating with same ruthlessness."

Wahab back around the stumps.

Ahad: "Babar took a few deliveries to knock it around in his 90s which Simon Doull even pointed out on air. Wonder if that might be difference for his team between a win or a loss today." Indeed, he crawled through the 90s playing for the century and it might cost Zalmi in the end result.