Twitter Reactions: An immaculate knock from Umar Akmal takes the Gladiators over the line

Both the Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, had good outings.

Published - 16 Feb 2019, 11:00 IST | Updated - 16 Feb 2019, 11:00 IST

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Peshawar Zalmi, the runners-up of PSL 2018, suffered a massive blow right in the first game of PSL 2019. They lost to the Quetta Gladiators by a six-wicket margin in a game that was closer than expected. Umar Akmal was the man for the Gladiators who got the side over the line comfortably even though things went down to the last over.

The 28-year-old took the onus upon himself and played a responsible yet aggressive knock. The Zalmi bowlers fought hard in the game but there was only a little luck on their side. After all the six teams have completed one game each in the tournament, the Quetta Gladiators stand second while the Islamabad United top the table.

Kamran Akmal, Misbah do well for the Zalmi

After the Peshawar Zalmi was put into bat first in this game, the side lost Andre Fletcher for just one run. Mohammad Irfan Jnr was the man who drew the first flood for the team. But, Kamran Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood got things back on track. However, they ate up too many balls to do the same. They added 64 runs off the same number of balls together which is quite slow-paced in today’s scenario.

Akmal was dropped when he was on 25 by Irfan. He went on to pile up 49 off 36 before he was dismissed. Maqsood crawled his way to 26 from 29 balls which seemed quite a pathetic show. Misbah-ul-Haq added a valuable 49 runs which came off 32 balls. But this unbeaten innings had no support from other end and the Zalmi had to settle for a meagre score of 155/4 in 20 overs.

Umar Akmal absolutely clinical on the night

The Quetta Gladiators lost Ahmed Shehzad on the first ball of the second innings. Hasan Ali trapped him LBW. Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw also couldn’t hang around long. Both these men got out for 19 leaving the team seemingly in a lot of trouble. But, Umar Akmal and skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed made the most of their experience. The duo stitched together a 62-run partnership to get the team closer to the target.

Ahmed fell after making 37 runs but his side was only 23 runs shy of a win at that point in time. Dwayne Smith and Umar Akmal applied the finishing touches to take the team over the line. Akmal was unbeaten on 75 off 50 balls while his partner was on 11.

Twitterati was thrilled to see Umar Akmal find his touch at a crucial stage. They were happy to see Sarfaraz back in action and thought Wahab Riaz bowled brilliantly.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

When #Rana_saab see umar akmal in form pic.twitter.com/EHby3dlA5P
— HamZa HaMeed (@feelingsless000) February 16, 2019

Bat sun:
Rana Tujhy Galiyan de rha hai😂#PSL4 #QGvPZ #KaiKaiQuetta #UmarAkmal pic.twitter.com/2asRLefkCJ
— Muhammad Sayyam (@Sayyam_Abbasi50) February 16, 2019

75* off 50 balls – a responsible, mature and match-winning innings from Umar Akmal. If only Pakistan cricket had seen more of this over the years #PZvQG #PSL4 pic.twitter.com/Xscr4gbKMC
— Altaf Alam Marwat (@AltafMrwat) February 16, 2019

After watching umar akmal batting
Lahore qalander owner like🤔
Lagta apun hi manhoos ha.. 😂😂
— King Abdullah😺 (@KingAbd04401018) February 16, 2019

Pollard doing 'chaaaaa' with umar akmal 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UfSToym0md
— دانیال 🔥🔥 (@shk_daniyal) February 16, 2019

Umar Akmal you were one of my favorite player in Pakistani team . once again you proved that you are still a very good hard hitter.INSHA ALLAH you will be part of world cup squad @imu_akmal pic.twitter.com/14HbjR3Up0
— Samraja14 (@samraja141) February 16, 2019

Umar Akmal once again proved that he is a very good batsman, hoping that Umar Akmal will be part of the Pakistan team very soon inshAllah
— Naveed Asif (@NaveedA61437487) February 16, 2019

Tabahi knock from @Umar96Akmal while @SarfarazA_54 played a true captain’s hand. Well bowled @mnawaz94 @ghulammudassar5 @irfanjr222 pic.twitter.com/17795ZzGQL
— Nabeel Hashmi (@iNabeelHashmi) February 15, 2019

Lahore Qalandars chorney ke baad Umar Akmal bhi chalne lag gaya. Lahore walon ka bad luck hee kharab hai#pzvqg
— Grey wolf (@Wolfsays007) February 16, 2019

This is @Umar96Akmal 💪💪💪
Micky Arthur surely you have watched his batting 😠😠😠#PSL4 #QGvPZ #UmarAkmal #MickyArthur
— Sajid Cheema (@sajidchema143) February 16, 2019

Congratulations I hope you will continue your good performance like this and will get a chance in PCT in World Cup 2019#HopeNotOut #UmarAkmal
— Bilal Mazhar (@bilalmazhar_10) February 16, 2019

Umar Akmal you were one of my favorite player in Pakistani team early in your career but with the passage of time because of your regularly bad batting performances I was feeling that I was wrong once again you proved that you are still a very good hard hitter. pic.twitter.com/7ELA84AZQQ
— Bilal Mazhar (@bilalmazhar_10) February 16, 2019

We Can Understand Rana Fawad’s Pain Cus Umar Akmal Never played such an Innings for Lahore Qalandars.#PZvQG #HBLPSL2019 pic.twitter.com/tLhfN6L1kz
— #mubl (@iMUBL) February 16, 2019

Umar Akmal can be a very dangerous batsman in the last phase of the innings. Across his #HBLPSL career, he has scored at 12.91 runs per over in the death overs. If he can replicate that today @TeamQuetta will be in a great position. #QGvPZ #KhelDeewanoKa #HBLPSL2019 pic.twitter.com/gsdfM8YoAG
— Faisal Imam🇵🇰 (@iamfaisalimam5) February 16, 2019