SHARJAH: Latecomers to the party, Lahore Qalandars on Wednesday night spoiled the momentum that was building up for two-time finalists Quetta Gladiators here at the Sharjah cricket Stadium.
The Qalandars were in their element as they just shrugged aside the Gladiators in a 17-run victory, their third in a row in HBL Pakistan Super League. This is the first that Qalandars, the perennial under-achievers of the T20 league, have won three consecutive matches in the PSL.
Their batting hero was big-hitting opener Fakhar Zaman who belted a 50-ball 94, the highest individual innings in PSL 3.Lahore’s resurgence is in stark contrast to their earlier run in the competition, which saw them losing six matches at the trot. The losing spree resulted in Lahore’s elimination for the third year running.
“It is certainly disappointing that we didn’t do well in our earlier matches,” said Gulraiz Sadaf, who hit a useful 42 from 27 balls for Lahore.“But the morale in our camp is high and we want to end the tournament on a positive note,” he added.
Lahore did play positive cricket as Fakhar Zaman hit six sixers and nine fours and was ably supported by his fellow batters as his team cruised to 186.Lahore haven’t made any changes to their team since picking up their first win, and their openers Fakhar and Anton Devcich gave them a solid start again. However, when Devcich, Agha Salman and Brendon McCullum — the captain who was controversially given out off a no-ball — fell in quick succession, Fakhar held the innings together, brilliantly supported by a 27-ball 42 from wicketkeeper-batsman Gulraiz Sadaf. A cameo in the end from Sunil Narine (20*) ensured Lahore finished with a flourish.
With Jason Roy back in the Quetta side, their top order boasted a frightening quartet of Roy, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen and Rilee Rossouw. While the England opener got Quetta off to a fast start — they raced to 52 for 0 in five overs — the wicket of Watson immediately set them back. And from thereon the Quetta chase began to unravel. Narine took care of both Pietersen and Roy, and as the asking rate climbed, Quetta found themselves out of the contest. Rossouw launched a counterattack, smashing five sixes in a 22-ball 42, but it only gave Lahore a late scare. Quicks Shaheen Afridi and Sohail Khan eventually wrapped up a comfortable win.
Lahore drew level with Peshawar Zalmi, though they are still in last place on net run-rate. Quetta remained second, two points behind table-toppers Islamabad United. —with inputs from agencies
Quetta Gladiators won toss
Lahore Qalandars
Fakhar Zaman c Hasan b Anwar 94
A P Devcich c Anwar b Rahat 18
Agha Salman b Mir 1
*B B McCullum st Sarfraz b Hasan 5
†Gulraiz Sadaf not out 42
S P Narine not out 20
Extras (lb 2, nb 1, w 3) 6
Total (4 wickets; 20 Overs) 186
Did not bat: Sohail Akhtar, Sohail Khan, M J McClenaghan, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Fall: 1-43, 2-53, 3-73, 4-141
Bowling: Anwar 4-0-24-1; Watson 4-0-50-0; Rahat 4-0-51-1; Mir 4-0-34-1; Nawaz(3) 3-0-22-0; Hasan 1-0-3-1
Quetta Gladiators
J J Roy lbw b Narine 36
S R Watson b Shaheen 12
K P Pietersen b Narine 11
Rameez Raja(2) c Fakhar b Yasir 7
R R Rossouw b McClenaghan 42
Anwar Ali c Shaheen b Yasir 4
*†Sarfraz Ahmed not out 28
M Nawaz(3) not out 19
Extras (b 2, w 8) 10
Total (6 wickets; 20 Overs) 169
Did not bat: Hasan Khan, Rahat Ali, Mir Hamza
Fall: 1-52, 2-56, 3-69, 4-75, 5-92, 6-120
Bowling: Sohail 4-0-30-0; Narine 4-0-22-2; Yasir 4-0-35-2; McClenaghan 4-0-43-1; Shaheen 4-0-37-1
Result: Qalandars won by 17 runs
Man of the Match: Fakhar Zaman (Lahore Qalandars)
Umpires: T Robinson (England) and Rashid Riaz (Pakistan). TV Umpires: Shozab Raza (Pakistan). Match Referee: R Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
Team M W L P NRR
IU 8 6 2 12 0.429
QG 9 5 4 10 0.428
KK 9 4 4 9 -0.118
MS 10 4 5 9 -0.191
PZ 9 4 5 8 0.399
LQ 9 3 6 6 -0.908
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