At last, Lahore Qalandars, the bottom-placed team, tasted first victory of the HBL Pakistan Super League5 whey they outclassed Quetta Gladiators by 37 runs at Gaddafi Stadium here on Tuesday evening, surprising all and sundry. Chasing a formidable target of 210, skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and his charges were bundled out for 172, with Salman Irshad (4 for 29), who came in as a replacement for Haris Rauf, ripping through their batting lineup. Ben Cutting put up the only impressive performance for Quetta, scoring a half-century that included five 6s and three 4s. He made 53 off 27 balls. Mohammad Nawaz pitched in by scoring 24 runs from 17 balls before he was caught by Dilbar Hussain off by Muhammad Faizan. Shane Watson looked to be in dangerous form as he hit two 6s but was caught by Ben Dunk off a Hussain delivery. He scored 23 off 17 balls. Quetta needed equally incongruous contributions from their key men, but with the departure of Jason Roy and Watson, there was no coming back. Samit Patel, Dilbar and Faizan picked up two scalps each.
Earlier, Dunk (93) and Patel (71) hit dazzling knocks to add 155 runs for the fourth wicket to steer Lahore to a formidable total of 209 for the loss of five scalps. This is the record total by any team in this tournament. Quetta captain Sarfaraz won the toss and opted to bowl first. The pair had come together with Lahore struggling at 50 for three. Dunk and Patel carried the biggest partnership so far in the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League. Dunk’s scintillating innings, at a strike-rate of over 216, was from 43 balls with the help of three fours and a record 10 sixes while Patel faced 40 balls with nine fours and two sixes. Dunk also broke the record for most sixes in a PSL innings. Cutting proved of some help to Quetta as he picked up the two important wickets of Patel and Dunk, however, not before they had done the damage. For his match-winning innings, Dunk was named man of the match. Mohammad Nawaz, Fawad Ahmed and Mohammad Hasnain picked a wicket each.