Tamim, Shakib fail to shine

Bangladesh cricketers Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, who are playing for Peshawar Zalmi, failed to make a mark with the bat in the Pakistan Super League yesterday. Tamim was caught at mid-off for four, while Shakib was dismissed by Amad Butt in the 11th over at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.Tamim was caught at mid-off for four, while Shakib was dismissed by Amad Butt in the 11th over at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Despite their failures, Peshawar Zalmi managed to reach 136, courtesy of knocks from Shahid Afridi and Wahab Riaz towards the end.

In reply, Islamabad United overhauled Peshawar's total in the last ball of the match with Smith scoring a breezy 72 not out. Shakib Al Hasan took 1 wicket for 24 runs in his allotted 4 overs.

Earlier, Mahmudullah Riyad too didn't have much of a role to play during the game between the Lahore Qalandars and the Quetta Gladiators. Although his side, the Gladiators won, courtesy of a brilliant 88 from Kevin Pietersen, who smashed eight sixes and three fours, Riyad wasn't called into action with the bat.

With the ball, he bowled two overs and gave away 23 runs. The Gladiators successfully chased down Lahore's total of 200 in just 18.5 overs thanks to Pietersen and Sarfraz Ahmed, who scored 45 off 25 balls.

Earlier in the day, Mahmudullah Riyad's Pakistan Super League team, the Quetta Gladiators, overcame Lahore Qalandars 200 in style at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday after Kevin Pietersen smashed 88 off 42 balls with eight sixes and three fours.

Riyad bowled two overs and leaked 23 runs, as the Qalandars posted 200 for 3. After the exchange, the Gladiators lost early wickets and needed 99 runs in seven overs. Sarfraz Ahmed and Pietersen started going after the bowlers and ended up putting on 101 runs in 7.3 overs to finish the game.

With 62 required off the last four overs, Sunil Narine was smashed for 21 in the 17th while, Mohammad Irfan was bludgeoned away for 26, which saw Pietersen hit four sixes.

Riyad did not bat after Sarfraz got out in 19th as Anwar Ali, who finished the game with a six and a four in the penultimate over, was promoted. 

After the match, opposing captain Brendon McCullum took to his recently-opened Twitter account to applaud Pietersen's heroic effort, tweeting: "Out of the telephone box today @KP24. Too good. Thanks for support Qalandar fans."