DUBAI: Quetta Gladiators produced a clinical show to crush Lahore Qalandars by nine wickets in the Pakistan Super League here on Saturday night. Put to bat first, Lahore could only manage 119-9 after a dazzling start and Quetta easily chased down the target in 14 overs for the loss of just one wicket at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine gave a superb start to Lahore who were 45 for no loss after three overs. Narine blasted 24 runs in an over of Shane Watson that had three fours and two sixes. In the next three overs of Powerplay, Lahore’s innings, however, took a dramatic turn with pacers Rahat Ali and Jofra Archer combining with spinner Mohammad Nawaz to share three wickets and reduce them to 61-3 in six overs.
Rahat ended Narine’s knock of 28 while Archer accounted for Fakhar Zaman (1). Nawaz got rid of McCullum (30) and Cameron Delport (15) in consecutive overs as Lahore batsmen continued taking unnecessary risks. As soon as Narine fell, Quetta’s bowlers found a way to break in. The first five overs fetched 50, the next 15 fetched 59, and the hollowness of Lahore’s middle order was on full display yet again
Left-armer Nawaz went on to record figures of 2-4 from his four overs – the most economical spell in the PSL history. Archer was their most successful bowler with 3-23 as Lahore eventually managed a meagre total. They scored 60-2 from their first five overs but managed just 59 for the loss of seven wickets in the next 15 overs.
Learning from the mistakes of their opponents, Quetta looked in no rush to hunt down the target early on with the opening pair of Watson and Asad Shafiq scoring 41 in six overs. The gears, however, shifted in the seventh over when Watson took revenge on Narine after hammering him for two fours and six to return the favour with a 21-run over. The second six of the over took the Australian all-rounder to a 27-ball 50 and his blistering knock eventually ended on 66 off 42, cleaned up by, Narine. But by the time Watson walked back, Quetta were well ahead and firmly in the driving seat as Asad, who happily watched Watson tear through the bowlers earlier, hit Yasir Shah for two sixes. Umar Amin applied the finishing touches with two fours as Lahore chased down the target with six overs to spare. Quetta took two points to move to fourth in the standings while Lahore continue to languish at the bottom after two straight defeats.
Brief scores: Quetta Gladiators 120-1 (Shane Watson 66, Asad Shafiq 38 not out) beat Lahore Qalandars 119-9 (Brendon McCullum 30, Sunil Narine 28; Jofra Archer 3-23, Mohammad Nawaz 2-4) by nine wickets.
Today’s match (Monday February 26 at 9:00 PM PST)
8th Match: Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars at Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2018.