Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (player of the match) produced another searing opening over to lay the foundation of his side's thumping eight-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators in the 20th match of the Pakistan Super League 7 played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday night.
Shaheen sent back Gladiators batting mainstays Jason Roy and James Vince for ducks in the first over of the match to send the home crowd into raptures. Gladiators never recovered from the body blows as they were restricted to 141, a target that was easily surpassed by Qalandars.
Shaheen known around the world for his first over exploits especially in the T20 format accounted for Roy with a short-ball on the second ball of the match before bowling Vince with a vicious in swinger, the ball after. Roy's dismissal was sweet revenge for Shaheen since the England opener had taken Shaheen apart during his blazing century when the two sides met in Karachi last Monday.
Following Shaheen's exploits Gladiators crashed to 25 for four as captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (12) and opener Ahsan Ali (8) were also dismissed cheaply.
Umar Akmal (25) played some stylish shots before his dismissal to David Wiese. Gladiators, eventual 141 for seven total was only possible due to a typically gutsy 52 off 39 balls from their seasoned middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed. The right-hander hit three massive sixes and two fours in his first half-century for the Gladiators.
Qalandars have now strengthened their hold of the number two slot on the points table and have one foot in the play-offs with five wins and 10 points from seven games. Gladiators are still at number four with three wins from seven games (six points).
Brief Scores: Quetta Gladiators 141/7 (Iftikhar Ahmed 52, Umar Akmal 25; David Weise 2-25); Lahore Qalandars 143/2 (Kamran Ghulam 55*, Fakhar Zaman 53; Noor Ahmad 1-24).
( With inputs from ANI )
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