Gladiators are defeated by Shaheen Shah Afridi’s team by 17 runs.
At the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, Lahore Qalandars defeated Quetta Gladiators by 17 runs in the 18th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.
The Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Gladiators struggled to reach their 149-run target as the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led Qalandars held them to 131-7 in 20 overs.
The top spot on the points table remains held by Qalandars, while Gladiators occupy the bottom spot.
Yasir Khan and Will Smeed added 53 runs for the first wicket in PSL 8’s Lahore Qalandars’ thrashing of the Quetta Gladiators before the former was dismissed after scoring 14 runs in 15 balls on Haris Rauf’s final delivery during the powerplay.
Rashid Khan trapped the batter in front of the stumps and then sent Smeed back to the hut. In 25 balls, the right-hander scored 32 runs.
Mohammad Hafeez (2) was run out after Fakhar Zaman’s direct hit struck the stumps.
Rashid also successfully took out Iftikhar Ahmed in his final over, increasing the pressure on Quetta. The leg-spinner from Afghanistan recorded impressive final figures of 2-14 in four overs.
When Martin Guptill, who had scored 15 runs in 20 balls, sent one off the bowling of David Wiese straight down the throat of a cow corner, Quetta’s hopes were further dashed.
Quetta kept losing wickets as the required run rate increased because they were unable to score the boundaries at the end of their innings.
On 27 runs, Sarfaraz Ahmed is still unbeaten, but it took him 28 balls to get there.
When Lahore gave Quetta a target of 149 runs earlier, Sikandar Raza shone with 71 unbeaten runs in 34 balls. In his explosive knock, the Zimbabwean cricketer hit eight fours and three sixes.
Lahore, who were given the opportunity to bat first, were dismissed for 148 in 19.2 overs.
After losing to Quetta Gladiators, Lahore were in danger of being dismissed for less than 100 runs after falling to 50-7. However, a pivotal fifty-fifty partnership between Rashid Khan and Sikandar Raza allowed their team to reenter the game.
After scoring 21 runs in 20 balls, Rashid was caught in the deep, but not before he and Raza combined for 69 runs in 39 balls.
It should be noted that after bringing Lahore down to 29-4 during the first powerplay, the Quetta bowlers gave their team a perfect start.
Umaid Asif struck Fakhar Zaman (4) directly, sending the in-form player back to the hut. Additionally, Asif returned Mirza Tahir Baig (2) to the pavilion.
After scoring two and six runs, respectively, pacer Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Hussain Talat and Sam Billings.
Abdullah Shafique was supposed to save the team after the Qalandars lost their early wickets, but Nawaz cleaned him up after he scored 15 runs in 14 balls.
Shaheen, the captain of Lahore, moved up in the batting order and took the field at position number six. Shaheen was run out after scoring 16 on a run-a-ball, so the experiment did not have the desired effect.
David Wiese (2) was sent packing after Nawaz successfully completed a straightforward caught and bowled.
Due to ankle pain, fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain missed the match against Lahore.
In the meantime, Yasir Khan, Umaid Asif, and Naveen-ul-Haq all made their debuts.
Teams:
Yasir Khan, Martin Guptill, Will Smeed, Mohammad Hafeez, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Odean Smith, Umaid Asif, Naseem Shah, and Naveen-ul-Haq are among the Quetta Gladiators.
Lahore Qalandars: Abdullah Shafique, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi (c), Rashid Khan, Sam Billings (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mirza Tahir Baig, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, and Zaman Khan
