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That brings our coverage of this contest to a close but there's more cricketing action lined up as South Africa and Bangladesh battle it out in Cape Town in the final Group game of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Head over here to follow our coverage of that contest and do return tomorrow for more PSL action as the Multan Sultans take on the Karachi Kings. Do stay tuned to Sportskeeda for all your daily dose of cricketing news and action from around the globe. For the moment, this is the duo of Karthik Raj and Sooryanarayanan Sesha taking your leave. Thank you so much for joining us. See you around soon - good night!
The skipper leading from the front will please the Qalandars. They're back to winning ways and are looking a dangerous outfit as the tournament goes along. Lots of soul-searching to do for the Quetta Gladiators though as they languish at the bottom of the table after this loss. They need to pull up their socks before it gets too late!
Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi is the Player of the Match. Here's what he has to say: After the second match we took a decision to review both departments. With Rashid's arrival our bowling has become stronger. The way Fakhar and Tahir Baig played we got a fine start and got a big score. Lot of credit to Tahir - for a young lad to come on and take on top bowlers was great. Shai Hope also played really well. When you have seven or eight bowlers who are ready to bowl at any time it makes my job easy as captain. My aim for the last 5-6 years has always been to give early breakthroughs for my side. Glad that I was able to get some swing.
Sarfaraz Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators captain): Definitely our bowling has been a worry. We're giving a few runs too many. With the bat we were always behind the eight-ball. The pitch played a lot better today than the last game and the batters were able to play their shots. (On Jason Roy) We all know that when he plays a lot more deliveries he will score runs. We will talk to the boys, lift their spirits and hopefully do better in the coming games.
David Wiese: It is a team that has really backed me. As long as they keep calling me, I will keep coming back. I am a little bit older than the other guys but I am still enjoying playing. Long may that continue. It was all about taking pace off the ball, using the defensive skill-set. The boys have responded superbly here.
Match Summary: Lahore Qalandars beat Quetta Gladiators by 63 runs.
Shai Hope 47 (32) | Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/22 (4) Jason Roy 48 (30) | Qais Ahmad 2/36 (4)
Dominance from start to finish and the Lahore Qalandars have shown just why they remain serious contenders for the title yet again. It was set up by an all-round batting display that saw them rack up 198 on the board and thereafter, there was simply no looking back on the park.
Leading the way was skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, who honed the ball into the stumps and fired his yorkers at will. For a man returning to the PSL after an injury layoff, it was as though he never left. The Gladiators shored Abdul Bangalzai up to open the innings but he fell prey to a screamer of a Shaheen inswinger that trapped him in his crease. Jason Roy and Martin Guptill weren't given any room to tee off themselves and the only thing that went wrong for the Qalandars was their usage of the DRS with Shaheen exhausting them way too early.
Roy found his matchup when Haris Rauf came on though as the bolter dished out far too many half-trackers. Out of nowhere, the Englishman flicked a switch and infused some momentum into the chase although Guptill was deceived by a slower one from David Wiese. Roy looked to keep the charge going in the company of Mohammad Hafeez, although a string of tight overs from Rashid Khan saw the asking rate mount. Once he uprooted Roy's off stump, it all came apart in a sorry manner for the Gladiators.
One after another, they fell like ninepins. Rauf was the only bowler who endured a wretched outing with Sikandar Raza also bagging one for himself. David Wiese did his bit through the middle-overs and used his cutters to good effect, snaring three wickets along the way at a crucial time. But it was Shaheen who stood out again with a dream spell in the powerplay that set things up perfectly for the Qalandars to defend it. At the other end of the spectrum, Sarfaraz Ahmed held himself back to promote the big hitters in lieu of the required run-rate. It came to no avail though and a third loss in four encounters is what the Gladiators have to settle for. Stick around for the presentations...
Back to winning ways are the defending champions. With aplomb as well! This has been a professional defense by the Qalandars and this will send their net run-rate skyrocketing!
20
overs
135/8score
2
0
0
1
1
1
runs
Sarfaraz Ahmed*
16(14)
Mohammad Hasnain
1(2)
Haris Rauf
0/48
19.6 Hussain Talat to Sarfaraz Ahmed, full on the stumps, Sarfaraz drives it to long-off for a single. Tame end to the match as Lahore Qalandars wrap up a 63-run win!
19.5 Hussain Talat to Mohammad Hasnain, full and slow, Hasnain lifts it in front of point for a single
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F Zaman
National Stadium, Karachi
Sarfaraz Ahmed
*
Haris Rauf
