The Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 is just around the corner, with the first match slated to begin on the 13th of February. Ahead of the start of the season, teams have begun their preparations. Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators met in an exhibition game on Sunday (5th February) at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta, Balochistan.
Iftikhar Ahmed, who had already reached his half-century, hit Peshawar Zalmi’s Wahab Riaz for six massive sixes in the first innings of the match. On the first ball, he took the aerial route on the on-side to hit the ball over the square-leg region. He hit the next two deliveries in the mid-wicket region over the long-off for two more sixes.
Riaz bowled the next two deliveries wide outside the off-stump, but Ifthikar was smart enough to smash them in over point. The final delivery of the over saw a similar result as the batter hit it over point to complete six 6s in the over. With this, Iftikhar took the team total from 148 to 184. He also moved to 94 runs in the 50 deliveries that he played.
Here is Iftikhar Ahmed’s power hitting
6? 6? 6? 6? 6? 6? ?
Iftikhar goes big in the final over of the innings! ?
Watch Live ?? https://t.co/xOrGZzkfvl pic.twitter.com/CDSMFoayoZ
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 5, 2023
As for the game, the result of the game was not clear until the very last ball. However, it was Quetta Gladiators who emerged victorious in the game as Naseem Shah was successful in defending six runs in the last four balls of the innings. The Gladiators won the match by a very small margin of three runs.
Earlier in the game, the action was halted to ensure the players’ safety. According to some reports, the game was called off as a precautionary measure due to a bomb explosion in Quetta. The game, however, was later resumed. The bombing occurred in Musa Chowk, just 4 kilometres from the Bugti Stadium.
On the other hand, there was another reason for the game’s halt. Because of oversold tickets, a horde of enraged fans set fire to the stadium. The audience inside also threw stones at the players in action.
