Lahore Qalandars 148 (Raza 71*) beat Quetta Gladiators 131 for 7 (Rauf 3-22) by 17 runs
Gladiators were seemingly cruising as they reached 53 for 1, with Yasir Khan falling to Rauf from the last ball of the powerplay. Will Smeed had struck six crisp fours in 32 off 25 balls to help get his side ahead of the asking rate, but after he fell lbw to Rashid in the seventh over, Gladiators began a slow-motion collapse that saw them add 11 runs in five overs while losing three wickets.
It got worse for Gladiators when Martin Guptill launched David Wiese down the throat of deep midwicket, with the required rate crossing 10 per over. Odean Smith and Mohammad Nawaz were dismissed by Rauf as the home side took control, conceding just five boundaries in the second half of the innings and ensuring the victory was all but secure with an over to spare.
Qalandars’ attempts to disrupt the flow involved sending the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, out at No. 6 – he had never previously batted higher than No. 8 in a T20. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he outscored the rest of the top six with 16 off 16, before running himself out looking for a non-existent single in the ninth over. With Abdullah Shafique and Wiese falling to Nawaz either side of Shaheen’s dismissal, Qalandars were seven down at halfway.
But Raza hit his sixth ball, from Nawaz, for six, added another in the next over from Umaid, hit Naveen for three fours in five balls and took a brace of boundaries off Naseem Shah as the recovery partnership swelled past 50. Even with Raza’s efforts, Qalandars were unable to bat their full 20 overs – but it turned out the league leaders had more than enough for a fifth win in six.
