Rilee Rossouw remained unbeaten with a 60-run knock off 49 balls, while Mohammad Tariq claimed three wickets in a strong all-round display.
A disciplined bowling performance, followed by an unbeaten half-century from Rilee Rossouw, guided Quetta Gladiators to a convincing six-wicket win over defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the 26th match of Pakistan Super League 11 at the National Bank Stadium on Friday.
Chasing a modest target of 135 runs, the previous edition’s runners-up reached the total comfortably, finishing on 135 for 4 with 22 balls remaining.
Quetta Gladiators, however, made a shaky start to the chase, losing both openers—Shamyl Hussain (0) and Saud Shakeel (1)—within the first three overs with just 11 runs on the board.
After the early blows, Mohammad Nawaz joined Rilee Rossouw at the crease, and the pair steadied the innings with a crucial 104-run stand for the third wicket, putting the team firmly in control.
Sikandar Raza eventually ended the partnership in the 14th over, dismissing Nawaz via stumping, just short of a well-earned half-century. Nawaz scored 49 off 32 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes.
In the following over, Haris Rauf struck again, removing Dinesh Chandimal for just 3 runs off 5 balls.
Rossouw, however, remained unbeaten and guided the Gladiators to victory in the 17th over, alongside Bevon Jacobs, who added a quick 14 not out from 6 deliveries.
Rilee Rossouw top-scored for Quetta Gladiators with an unbeaten 60 off 49 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes.
For Lahore Qalandars, only Sikandar Raza, Haris Rauf, and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi managed to take a wicket each.
Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s decision to bat first backfired as the defending champions were bowled out for 134 in 19.5 overs.
Their innings got off to a shaky start when Jahandad Khan dismissed Mohammad Naeem (4) in the second over with 20 runs on the board.
Experienced opener Fakhar Zaman followed soon after, clean bowled by Alzarri Joseph for 20 off 11 balls, including four boundaries. Joseph struck again in his next over, removing Charith Asalanka (6) to leave Qalandars struggling at 36/3.
Right-arm pacer Saqib Khan then added further pressure by trapping Mohammad Farooq (2) lbw in the seventh over.
A brief recovery came through Abdullah Shafique (17) and Haseebullah Khan, who added 18 runs for the fifth wicket before Usman Tariq broke the stand by stumping Shafique. Tariq struck again in the same over, dismissing Shaheen Afridi for a two-ball duck.
At 60/6, Haseebullah and Sikandar Raza put together a 24-run stand for the seventh wicket before Raza was bowled by Tariq at the start of the 17th over.
Haseebullah then shared a 25-run partnership with Daniel Sams before being run out in the 19th over. He remained the top scorer for Qalandars with a fighting 33 off 37 balls.
Late hitting from Usama Mir (22 off 7 balls, including three sixes and a four) gave Lahore some momentum before he was dismissed by Jahandad Khan in the final over, who also removed Haris Rauf on the next ball to wrap up the innings.
For the Gladiators, Usman Tariq and Jahandad Khan led the bowling attack with three wickets each, while Joseph took two and Saqib Khan claimed one.
About the Author
