A brilliant collective bowling performance by Quetta downed Qalandars in low-scoring match after Rilee Rossouw's 60 off 47 balls.
By Abdullah Ansari (10th February, 2017)
Lahore Qalandars Team
Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Fakhar Zaman, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Grant Elliott, Sunil Narine, Sohail Tanvir, Bilawal Bhatti, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan Jr.
Quetta Gladiators Team
Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Shehzad, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Thisara Perera, Anwar Ali, Hasan Khan, Tymal Mills, Zulfiqar Babar.
Brendon McCullum won the toss and opted to field and the decision paid dividends soon enough as Tanvir struck to remove Shehzad early. The young Irfan Jr. struck a massive blow to get Kevin Pietersen while Shafiq struggled to bat fluently. Rossouw also started off slowly, while Shafiq perished after making a scratchy 29 off 28 balls. Sarfraz and Nawaz failed to contribute while Perera fell after a couple of boundaries. Rossouw and Hasan Khan put on a good partnership with the former striking some crucial blows while Hasan contributed some vital runs as well. Rossouw got to a fifty off 38 balls as Quetta finished the innings on a high at 136/9.
The chase started well for Lahore with Roy blasting his way to 27 off 14 balls before being dismissed by Zulfiqar. McCullum also contributed 20 in no time as the fifty was raised in the 6th over. However, Umar Akmal threw it away while Rizwan fell to Hasan's spin as Lahore collapsed. Fakhar was next, run out after some good fielding while Tanvir was bowled by Nawaz. Elliott and Narine formed a partnership to give Qalandars hope but Elliott fell to Nawaz. Narine hit a couple of sixes to put the equation in favour of Lahore with 13 needed in 3 overs but two wickets in Mills' over saw Quetta go in front. Hasan Khan got the last wicket as Lahore finished 8 runs short.
Next match: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi