Quetta Gladiators batters Rilee Rossouw and Hassan Nawaz created T20 history on Wednesday (May 7), slamming centuries against Islamabad United in the PSL.
Table-toppers Quetta took on Islamabad in Rawalpindi, aiming to seal a top-two spot in the league that would give them two chances to qualify for the final.
They were sent in to bat after Islamabad skipper Salman Agha won the toss. Openers Finn Allen and Saud Shakeel were both dismissed inside the Powerplay, but from then on it was one-way traffic.
Match 26, Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators
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Quetta Gladiators record highest score in PSL history
By the end of six overs, Quetta were 63-2 with Rilee Rossouw and Hassan Nawaz at the crease. Rossouw took the attack to Islamabad, getting to 26 off 12 before settling down in the middle overs. He got to a half-century off 26 balls with a six off Imad Wasim, and then plundered 20 runs off Mohammad Nawaz.
The very next over, Rossouw hit Jason Holder for three fours, and eventually got to his third PSL century in the 15th over – off just 44 balls, the joint-fifth fastest in PSL history and his slowest in the competition.
Rossouw was eventually out for 104, but Nawaz then took over. The 22-year-old got to a half-century off 29 balls, before going berserk. The 18th and 19th overs saw him hit Muhammad Shahzad and Naseem Shah for two and three sixes respectively, and a boundary off the final ball of the innings saw him reach a maiden PSL century, off 45 deliveries. Quetta finished on 263-3, the highest score in PSL history.
Rilee Rossouw, Hassan Nawaz make T20 history with twin tons
Rossouw and Nawaz's efforts marked the first innings in PSL history to contain two centuries. In all men's T20 cricket, this is the 10th time this has been achieved.
The pair also made T20 history. This is the first time in men's T20 cricket that two centuries have been scored in the same innings by non-openers. Rossouw batted at No.3, and Nawaz at No.4 in this innings.
This has been done once in women's T20 cricket; in 2019, Bangladesh's Nigar Sultana (113* from No.3) and Fargana Hoque (110* from No.4) did so against Maldives.
The closest anyone had come to this unique feat in the men's game before Rossouw and Nawaz was in June 2017. In the Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy, Leinster Lightning's Simi Singh scored 109 from No.3, but No.4 Max Sorensen remained not out on 98 against Munster Reds.
Image credit: X / @thePSLt20
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