Quetta Gladiators made it four wins out of four in the 2019 Pakistan Super League (PSL) with a last-gasp three-wicket victory over Lahore Qalandars at Sharjah.
The league leaders were impressive once again for the fourth match in a row as they chased down Lahore Qalandars’ total of 143-7 in a thrilling finish at Sharjah.
Set 144 to win, Quetta started poorly in the chase with star opener Shane Watson perishing for a duck after trying to lift Rahat Ali over the infield. The Gladiators lost a second big wicket inside the powerplay when Rilee Rossouw was castled by a Yasir Shah delivery.
Opener Ahsan Ali, though, was in excellent touch and raced away to 40 before his innings was ended by Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. Umar Akmal was unable to continue his excellent form with the right-hander falling for nine to Lahore pacer Haris Rauf.
When Fakhar Zaman ran-out Dwayne Smith moments later, Quetta had been reduced to 81-5 in their chase. However, skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz were steady and engineered the Quetta innings back on track through some sensible batting.
The duo shared a sixth-wicket stand of 54 runs before Nawaz was dismissed in the penultimate over. Wiese introduced another late twist in the game by removing Anwar Ali with the first ball of the last over with the equation ultimately coming down to two runs required off the last delivery.
Wiese, who had struck a last-ball six to seal Lahore’s victory over Multan Sultans just a day earlier, got a dose off his own medicine with Sarfraz sending the final delivery flying over the boundary ropes.
SARFRAZ AHMED HAS DONE A JAVED MIANDAD AT SHARJAH @SarfarazA_54 slogs @David_Wiese towards deep mid-wicket and Quetta Gladiators have won!
— Cricingif (@_cricingif) February 23, 2019
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details 👉 https://t.co/3vf612zyBu #QGvLQ #PSL2019 #KhelDeewanoKa #CricketForAll pic.twitter.com/Adb6z6zs5b
Earlier, Quetta Gladiators skipper Sarfraz Ahmed had won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bowl first. His decision was vindicated by Mohammad Nawaz who struck in the second over the innings itself to dismiss danger man Fakhar Zaman.
Salman Butt’s second innings for Lahore lasted just seven deliveries before the left-hander became Quetta youngster Ghulam Mudassar’s first dismissal of the day. Mudassar removed Sohail Akhtar just two deliveries later as Lahore were reduced to 41-3.
Skipper AB de Villiers continued his good form from the last game and held one end down for his side. However, wickets kept tumbling at the other end with Corey Anderson and David Wiese falling after generating decent starts.
In the end, de Villiers remained unbeaten on a 40-ball 45 with the South African being prevented from doing some late damage after some excellent death bowling by Quetta.
Young pacer Mudassar was the pick of the bowlers for the Gladiators and finished with figures of 3-21 while veteran Sohail Tanvir impressed as well with returns of 2-21.
BRIEF SCORES
Lahore Qalandars: 143-7
AB de Villiers: 45 not out (40)
Ghulam Mudassar: 3-21
Quetta Gladiators: 148-7
Sarfraz Ahmed: 52 not out (36)
Haris Rauf: 2-25
