On Sunday night at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, the Quetta Gladiators defeated the Lahore Qalandars by six wickets to guarantee their berth in the PSL 9 playoffs. Vice captain Saud Shakeel struck a stunning unbeaten knock of 88 runs, helping the Quetta Gladiators overcome Lahore in a thrilling last-ball match after limiting Lahore to 166-4 in the first inning.
Pitch report and toss update
Batters of all stripes will find the track at Karachi’s National Stadium to be quite beneficial. Seam and swing at the beginning, slower balls, and off-cutters in the finish can be useful tools in the bowler’s toolbox.
It is anticipated that the batters will control the game. Thus, the Lahore Qalandars chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Lahore Qalandars started sloppy as they lost couple of wickets
After Farhan smashed a four on the opening delivery of the game, Mirza Tahir Baig and Sahibzada Farhan provided their team with an adequate start. In the third, fourth, and fifth overs, the two rotated the strike and occasionally scored the boundary.
When coming in for Abrar Ahmed in the sixth over, Lahore dropped to 39-2 at the end of the powerplay when Tahir was removed on the final delivery and Farhan on the third ball. In order to fix the damage, Abdullah Shafique, batting at three, smashed two straight fours against Mohammad Wasim Jr. in the seventh over. In the next over, he struck a boundary off Abrar.
Wasim’s bowling in the tenth over caught Shai Hope behind, limiting him to five off seven as Lahore got to 70-3 at the halfway mark. Moving up the order, Shaheen Shah Afridi took responsibility for raising his team’s score.
Abdullah Shafique and Shaheen Afridi put up a partnership to led the Qalandars to a fighting total
Abdullah and Shaheen’s partnership for the fourth wicket produced 91 from 57, which gave the team a sense of control over the innings. Shaheen faced Akeal Hosein by hitting three sixes in the fifteenth over, following four quiet overs.
After an over, he reached his second half-century in the PSL by hitting two sixes against Abrar. Abdullah (59*) scored his second consecutive half-century in the PSL 9 in spectacular fashion in the 18th over, hitting Hosein for a six on the fourth delivery.
Sohail Khan, fielding at deep third in the last over, successfully caught the ball on his second try to assist Amir in dismissing Shaheen, who was forced to walk back for 55 on 34 after two fours and four sixes.
With only six runs scored in the last over, Lahore managed a respectable total of 166. Amir and Wasim both had one wicket, while Abrar got two wicket for the Quetta Gladiators.
Lahore Qalandars’ bowlers don’t allow the Quetta Gladiators to got off to a flier
After Jason Roy hammered Shaheen three straight fours on the first three balls of the inning, Saud Shakeel and Jason Roy provided the Quetta Gladiators with a 39-run opening stand. The breakthrough came in Jahandad Khan’s sixth over, when Roy was caught behind. Quetta scored 43-1 and ended the powerplay.
The ninth over’s final ball saw Jahandad break a 27-run second-wicket stand that Saud and his skipper, Rilee Rossouw, had built in the middle. With one four to his name, Rossouw walked back for 13 off 11. After losing the first two wickets, Khawaja Nafay and Saud put up a resilient third-wicket stand that produced 70 from 53 to restore Quetta Gladiators’ dominance of the match. Saud took 42 deliveries to reach his second PSL 9 half-century in the 13th over.
Shakeel’s innings led the the Quetta Gladiators to clinch a victory
In the 18th over, Shaheen trapped Nafay leg-before-wicket, ending the partnership between Shakeel and Nafay. Saud and Laurie Evans were on the crease as Quetta needed 29 runs from the last two overs.
The equation shifted to 14 needed from the final six deliveries after Jahandad gave up 15 in the penultimate over due to four by Evans and six by Saud.
Evans was out of the game on the opening ball of the last over courtesy to a brilliant diving catch made by Tahir at deep cover point by Shaheen. Saud came closer to the target after hitting two consecutive boundaries.
Wasim, the 6th batter in, struck a six to assist his team cross the line with four needed off the last ball. Saud (88*) remained unbeaten as Quetta Gladiators reached to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Jahandad and Shaheen picked up two wickets each.
