PSL 8: Qalandars register 4th consecutive win Thanks to Raza’s Fifty and Rauf’s 3-fer
Lahore Qalandars won their fourth back-to-back game, beating Quetta Gladiators by 17 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The defending champions crossed swords with Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Quetta Gladiators in Match 18 of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 8.
Sikandar Raza was their hero with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 71 from 34 balls, before the Qalandars attack recovered from a poor start to comprehensively throttle the chase, led by Haris Rauf’s 3 for 22. By the end, they laid claim to the record of joint-lowest total (148) successfully defended in a PSL match in Pakistan.
PSL 8, Match 18, Report:
Upon winning the toss, Sarfaraz decided to field first in order to give a hard time to the home side. Lahore Qalandars suffered a top-order collapse as they lost nearly half the side in under 50 runs. However, Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Sikandar Raza’s impressive knock revived the innings.
Raza smashed 71* off just 34 balls which included three sixes and eight fours and remained unbeaten to guide the side to attain 148 runs in 19.2 overs before the team was skittled out. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nawaz and Naveen-ul-Haq claimed two wickets each whereas Umaid Asif, Odean Smith, and young Naseem Shah scalped one wicket each to wrap up the innings.
The Reason Why Zimbabwe All-rounder is a Man to Watch-out for
For the first quarter of the match, it seemed nailed on that the Lahore fans would go home disappointed. Qalandars lost a wicket in the opening over of their innings, Umaid Asif marking his Gladiators debut with a direct hit that caught Fakhar Zaman short; Umaid’s night then got better when he struck with his third ball, taking a simple return catch after Mirza Baig top-edged a pull. Naveen-ul-Haq struck twice in as many overs as Qalandars limped to 29 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.
Qalandars’ attempts to disrupt the flow involved sending the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, out at No. 6 – he had never previously batted higher than No. 8 in a T20. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he outscored the rest of the top six with 16 off 16, before running himself out looking for a non-existent single in the ninth over. With Abdullah Shafique and Wiese falling to Nawaz either side of Shaheen’s dismissal, Qalandars were seven down at halfway.
But Raza hit his sixth ball, from Nawaz, for six, added another in the next over from Umaid, hit Naveen for three fours in five balls and took a brace of boundaries off Naseem Shah as the recovery partnership swelled past 50. Even with Raza’s efforts, Qalandars were unable to bat their full 20 overs – but it turned out the league leaders had more than enough for a fifth win in six.
Qalandars Consolidated their Position at the Top
After a horrific start to their HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 8 season, all Quetta Gladiators would be wishing for was a sniff. They did get more than just that here on a damp night at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, only for hosts Lahore Qalandars to snatch the match out of their jaws to take it by 17 runs.
The result meant the Qalandars consolidated their position at the top of the standings with five wins in six matches while the Gladiators found themselves under the weight of their misery at the bottom of the points table with just one victory in six games.
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