Russell taken to hospital after being hit by a bouncer

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was stretchered off after he started feeling uncomfortable because of a blow suffered on the head while batting for the Quetta Gladiators in a PSL 2021 match against Islamabad United on Friday.

Russell, who had resumed batting after the blow on the helmet, was taken to a hospital for scans in an ambulance during the first over of the Islamabad innings.

It happened during the 14th over of the Quetta innings when Russell, after hitting two sixes off Islamabad medium-pacer Muhammad Musa, was late while trying to pull a bouncer and got hit on the helmet.

After initial treatment on the ground, Russell resumed batting, only to be dismissed in the next ball.

Russell was replaced by right-arm seamer Naseem Shah after Quetta used the 'concussion substitute' rule. The decision, however, did not go down well with Islamabad captain Shadab Khan as he thought Naseem was not a like-for-like replacement for Russell.

According to the concussion substitute rules, a player can be replaced by another member of the squad if the match referee considers him a 'like-for-like' option. In this case, the match referee perhaps gave the nod to replace all-rounder Russell with a fast bowler Naseem as the West Indian cricketer had already played his part with the bat, he could have only come into play with the ball in hand in the second innings.

Quetta, however, won the match easily. New Zealand opener Colin Munro plundered an unbeaten 90 off 36 balls as Islamabad United swept Quetta Gladiators by 10 wickets.

Munro hit 12 fours and five sixes and was well supported by Islamabad-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja's unbeaten 41. The left-handers smashed the seam and spin of Quetta to reach 137-0 in just 10 overs. Quetta was all out for 133.

No team had previously chased so quickly in Pakistan's premier Twenty20 league which is in its sixth season. The electrifying chase lifted Islamabad to second in the standings, two points behind leader Lahore Qalandars.