Qalandars won by 50 for 7 wickets.
As of late, they have successfully claimed the record for the lowest combined total by a defense in a PSL match in Pakistan.
Lahore Qalandars 148 (Reza 71*) beat Quetta Gladiators 131 for 7 (Rauf 3-22) by 17 runs.
Defending champions Lahore Qalandars staged a brilliant recovery from 50 for 7 at the Gaddafi Stadium to win by 17 runs and send Quetta Gladiators to the bottom of the PSL table. Sikandar Raza was their hero with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 71 off 34 balls, before the Qalandars’ attack fizzled from a poor start to finish off the chase completely, Haris Rauf’s 22. 3 for runs. By the end, they claimed to have set the record. Successfully defended the joint lowest total (148) in a PSL match in Pakistan.
The Qalandars were in deep trouble after entering, but Raza’s maiden PSL half-century gave them something to bowl about. The Zimbabwean all-rounder hit eight fours and three sixes in a brilliant counter-attack, sharing 69 runs in 6.3 overs with Rashid Khan for the eighth wicket and helping the Gladiators set a target of 149 despite being dismissed early.
The Gladiators were seemingly cruising as they reached 53 for 1, falling to Yasir Khan Rauf on the last ball of the powerplay. Will Smead hit six fours for 32 off 25 balls to take his side ahead of the asking pace, but after being bowled lbw by Rashid in the seventh over, the Gladiators made a slow start. That made them 11 runs in five. Over for the loss of three wickets.
It got worse for the Gladiators when Martin Guptill launched David Wiese at deep mid-wicket, exceeding the required rate of 10 per over. Odin Smith and Mohammad Nawaz were dismissed by Rauf as the home side took control, hitting just five boundaries in the second half of the innings to ensure victory but with an over to spare.
In the first quarter of the match, it looked like the Lahore fans would go home disappointed. Qalandars lost a wicket in the opening over of their innings, Umeed Asif, making his debut for the Gladiators, bowled Fakhar Zaman short. Umeed’s night got better when he struck off his third ball, taking an easy return catch after taking a pull over Mirza Baig. Naveen-ul-Haq struck twice in as many overs as the Qalandars were 29 for 4 at the end of the Powerplay.
Attempts by the Qalandars to disrupt the flow included sending in captain Shaheen Shah Afridi at No.6 – he had never batted higher than No.8 in T20Is before. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he bowled out the rest of the top six with 16 for 16, before running himself out in search of a non-existent single in the ninth over. After Abdullah Shafiq and Wiz fell to Nawaz either side of Shaheen’s dismissal, the Qalandars were seven down at the halfway point.
But Raza hit Nawaz for a six off his sixth ball, another pair from Umid in the next over, Naveen for three fours in five balls and a boundary off Naseem Shah as the recovery partnership crossed 50. With the effort, the Qalandars failed to bat their full 20 overs – but it showed the league leaders had more than enough for a fifth win in six.
Muhammad Hafeez (2) was run out after hitting the stumps with a straight hit from Fakhar Zaman.
In his last over, Rashid also took the important wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed to increase the pressure on Quetta. The Afghanistan leg-spinner finished with impressive figures of 2-14 in four overs.Quetta’s hopes were dashed when Martin Guptill, 15 off 20 balls, was bowled by David Wiese straight off the cow corner.With the required run rate climbing, Quetta failed to score boundaries in the latter part of the innings and kept losing wickets.Sarfraz Ahmed remained unbeaten on 27 but it took 28 balls to get there.
