Lahore March 20: A scarcely believable cameo by Anwar Ali took Quetta Gladiators to within a single run of a win and place in HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) Eliminator 2 but it turned out to be a classic case of so near yet so far as the loss eliminated the two time finalists from the title race.

Set a 158 run target in front of a heaving Gaddafi Stadium witnessing only the second ever PSL match in their home city, the Gladiators were left needing 25 off the final over that was to be bowled by Liam Dawson who had been a hero for Zalmi with the bat.

But the all-rounder almost turned into a villan as Anwar went after him in pursuit of an improbable win.

The right-handed Anwar got a streaky four off the first ball before scoring 6,0,6,6 off the next four balls to leave his side needing three off the last ball.

The last ball was also full of drama as Anwar’s miscued shot was dropped at long-on by Umaid Asif who than threw the ball back at Dawson who ran out non-striker Hamza Mir who was attempting a second run to give Zalmi a place in Elminator 2.

The Gladiators were rocked early in the chase when Asad Shafiq and Tom Kohler Cadmore were dismissed cheaply by Hasan Ali.

Mohammad Nawaz (35) and Sarfraz Ahmed (35) were bounced out in one Sameen Gul over and the Gladiators stumbled further when Umaid dismissed both Mahmudullah and Rilee Rossouw in another cruical over.

Gladiators continued to flounder in their chase before the last over drama took centre stage.

Earlier, Zalmi owed their 157 run total to an exhilirating 62 by Dawson who rescued his team from a precarious position with a series of powerful strikes.

The right-hander hit four sixes and six fours in his innings that helped Zalmi post a competitive total.

Rahat Ali was the chief destroyer for Gladiators as he bowled an inspired spell taking four wickets for only 16 runs in his cruical spell.

Zalmi got off to a poor start after resumption following a sharp rain spell in the first over of the match.

Prolific opener Kamran Akmal and Andre Fletcher fell cheaply while Mohammad Hafeez also failed to make use of a positive start as he fell to Mahmudullah after scoring 25 off only 14 balls.

Kamran’s opening partner Tamim Iqbal scored 27 off 29 balls. Wahab Riaz contributed a quickfire 15 to ensure his team get past the 150 mark.

Besides Rahat, Gladiators were well served by Thisara Perera who besides taking two wickets took two outstanding catches for his team.