Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars outplayed Quetta Gladiators by 08 wickets in their Pakistan Super League’s seventh edition at Gaddafi Stadium here on Sunday night. Skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi’s decision to bowl first proved right as Quetta could muster only 141 for the loss of seven wickets and later Lahore easily chased the target and scored 143 for the loss of two wickets in 17.4 overs. Fakhar Zaman (53) and Abdullah Shafique (19) laid the foundation of victory while Kamran Ghulam (55 not out) and Mohammad Hafeez (09 not out) completed the task at hand. Noor Ahmad and Ghulam Mudassar claimed one wicket apiece for Quetta.

Earlier, Shaheen struck twice for Lahore in the opening over as he set the tone after dismissing dangerous Jason Roy for zero on the second ball and James Vince for zero on the next ball, courtesy of a brilliant swinging deliveries. Quetta skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed also departed for eight runs and half of the team’s batting line-up was sent back to the pavilion with the score of just 54 runs. Iftikhar Ahmed played a good 52-run knock and forged small partnerships, but eventually he was also dismissed on the last ball of the 17th over by Haris Rauf. Other batsmen contributed with small scores were Umar Akmal 25, Hassan Khan 17, and Noor Ahmed 13. For Lahore, Shaheen took two wickets for 27 runs in four overs, David Wiese also picked two in an economical spell, Haris Rauf picked one and Rashid Khan was again exceptional with tight lines giving away just 13 runs and taking one scalp.

Brief scores:

Quetta Gladiators 141 for 7 (Iftikhar Ahmed 52, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-27, David Wiese 2-25) vs Lahore Qalandars 143 for 2 (Fakhar Zaman 53, Kamran Ghulam 55 not out).