Babar Azam Eyeing 280+ Score In PSL After Jason Roy Helps Quetta Gladiaors Chase 241 Against Peshawar Zalmi
New Delhi: The Pakistan Super League on Wednesday witnessed a rare occurrence as Quetta Gladiators chased 241 with 10 balls to spare to register the highest-ever chase in PSL history. Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi put up a huge total of 240-2 in 20 overs, courtesy of a brilliant 115 of 65 by Babar Azam, 74 off 34 by Saim Ayub and a fiery cameo of 35 by Rovman Powell.
Quetta Gladiators were little intimidated by such a daunting total as they came out all guns blazing. Jason Roy and Martin Guptill added 41 runs in three overs before Guptill departed. However, Roy was in brutal form and kept smashing the bowlers to all corners of the park.
Roy smashed 145 in 63 balls as Quetta chased the target with eight wickets and 10 balls to spare. Roy got good support of Mohammad Hafeez who scored an unbeaten 41 off 18. This is the fourth-highest chase in T20 cricket. The record of chasing the highest total in T20 stands with Australia who chased 245 against New Zealand in 2018.
Meanwhile, after failing to defend 240, Zalmi captain Babar Azam is eyeing to post 280 runs in the next game. During the post match conference, Babar sarcastically said that the team will try to post 280 run total in the next game.
“Jason Roy changed the game totally. Bowling was not up to the mark, what we discussed we did not execute. Having one more spinner wouldn’t have helped as the pitch was great. We wanted to carry on with the same combination from last game. The way Saim Ayub started, it helped carry on the momentum, as a youngster he is improving day by day and it’s good for Pakistan cricket. As a professional, you need to identify a few things and we will sit and discuss what went wrong. We have back to back games now and we want to come back,” Babar said after the loss.