Lahore Qalandars 148 (Raza 71*) beat Quetta Gladiators 131 for 7 (Rauf 3-22) by 17 runs
Gladiators have been seemingly cruising as they reached 53 for 1, with Yasir Khan falling to Rauf from the final ball of the powerplay. Will Smeed had struck six crisp fours in 32 off 25 balls to assist get his aspect forward of the asking fee, however after he fell lbw to Rashid within the seventh over, Gladiators started a slow-motion collapse that noticed them add 11 runs in 5 overs whereas shedding three wickets.
It bought worse for Gladiators when Martin Guptill launched David Wiese down the throat of deep midwicket, with the required fee crossing 10 per over. Odean Smith and Mohammad Nawaz have been dismissed by Rauf as the house aspect took management, conceding simply 5 boundaries within the second half of the innings and making certain the victory was all however safe with an over to spare.
Qalandars’ makes an attempt to disrupt the movement concerned sending the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, out at No. 6 – he had by no means beforehand batted larger than No. 8 in a T20. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he outscored the remainder of the highest six with 16 off 16, earlier than operating himself out on the lookout for a non-existent single within the ninth over. With Abdullah Shafique and Wiese falling to Nawaz both aspect of Shaheen’s dismissal, Qalandars have been seven down at midway.
However Raza hit his sixth ball, from Nawaz, for six, added one other within the subsequent over from Umaid, hit Naveen for 3 fours in 5 balls and took a brace of boundaries off Naseem Shah because the restoration partnership swelled previous 50. Even with Raza’s efforts, Qalandars have been unable to bat their full 20 overs – nevertheless it turned out the league leaders had greater than sufficient for a fifth win in six.
