Zalmi won the toss and put Gladiators in and struck with their third ball when Waqas Gohar sent Prashant Gupta back to the pavilion for naught. Yassir Kaleem (24) and Mohammad Qasim (13) repaired the damage slightly before Qasim departed.

In came Man of the Match Shivam Sharma and things began to look brighter for Deccan as he stroked the ball confidently to all parts of the ground.

After Yassir too lost his wicket Rinku Singh gave Shivam company and together they added 66 runs before Rinku was bowled by Khalid Khail for 33.

Ikram Jauva faced three balls and was sent back but Imtiyaz Ahmad played a vital cameo for his 23 not out from 10 balls (1×6, 3×4) and along with Shivam added 68 invaluable runs towards the end to give Deccan a healthy total of 184 for 5.

Zalmi fought brilliantly through Khalid Khail (62), Mohammad Muzammil (23) and Dilawar Khan (23 not out) but they came up against some superb bowling from Asif Mumtaz (3-25), Kashif Daud (3-25) and Rinku Singh (2-23) and could manage only 171 for 9.

In the other quarterfinal White Hunters defended 136 against United Blasters.

Batting first after winning the toss White Hunters rode on Ashok Kumar’s unbeaten 71 to give them a respectable total.

Later their bowlers hogged the limelight. Man of the match Bilal Sajid took four wickets and Gopa Kumar and Renjith Mani shared two each to bundle out UB for 100.

Brief scores (quarterfinals):

White Hunters beat United Blasters by 36 runs

White Hunters 136 for 8 in 20 overs (Ashok Kumar 71 n.o.; Faizal Amin 3-20, Arshad Afridi 2-26) United Blasters 100 all out in 18.5 overs (Bilal Sajid 4-22, Gopa Kumar 2-18, Renjith Mani 2-27). Man of the match: Bilal Sajid.

Deccan Gladiators beat Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi by 13 runs

Deccan 184 for 5 in 20 overs (Shivam Sharma 81 n.o., Rinku Singh 33, Yassir Kaleem 24, Imtiyaz Ahmad 23 n.o.; Dilawar Khan 2-33) Zalmi 171 for 9 (Khalid Khail 62, Mohammad Muzammil 23, Dilawar Khan 23 n.o.; Asif Mumtaz 3-25, Kashif Daud 3-25, Rinku Singh 2-23). Man of the match: Shivam Sharma.