PSL 2018, Match 26 Review: Lahore Qalandars triumph in the dead-rubber contest

Brendon McCullum and his Lahore Qalandars have been at the bottom of the table from the outset and they might not escalate from there. All they can do is throw a decent fight every now and then, which is exactly what they did against the Quetta Gladiators, who’ve been in outstanding form. Banking on performances from Fakhar Zaman and Sunil Narine, they registered their third win of the season.

The Qalandars, who are officially out of the tournament, were made to bat first by Sarfraz Ahmed’s Gladiators. They had nothing to lose and the way Fakhar Zaman approached was a testament to that fact. When there’s nothing negative running through his mind, Zaman is quite a player to witness no matter on TV or at the stadium.

The southpaw was in a dreamland, where anything he touches would turn gold. Despite him going berserk at one end, not many managed to stick around with the 27-year-old. Anton Devcich, Agha Salman, and Brendon McCullum failed to deliver, but they all added decent stands with the man in full flow. Zaman had completed his half-century and was on course for a big one.

Gulraiz Sadaf and Zaman stitched 68 runs for the 4th wicket. This partnership was very important in the context of the game as wickets and runs kept pouring in. Zaman went bonkers in this partnership and helped their side get to a brilliant position before he fell just 6 runs short of a well-deserved hundred. He piled up 94 runs off 50 balls, which included 9 fours and 6 sixes.

Sunil Narine and Sadaf provided a decent finish towards the end, which propelled the Qalandars to 186 for the loss of 4 wickets. It was a forgettable outing for most of the bowlers barring Anwar Ali, who returned with spectacular figures of 1/24.

Sunil Narine spins a web

English opener Jason Roy got the Gladiators to a stunning start by spanking a few boundaries off the new ball. Sohail Khan was taken to the cleaners in his first overs, but the fast bowler managed to bounce back well later on. But when Shaheen Afridi was introduced into the attack, the teenager struck big time and sent Shane Watson back.

Narine started breathing fire later on and Roy’s pyrotechnics came to end. Narine chipped in with another wicket of Kevin Pietersen in a short while to put the Qalandars on top. Rilee Rossouw came into the middle at this point and struck some mighty blows. It seemed like his exploits might bring them back into the game, but that wasn’t to be the case.

He too was dismissed at a critical moment and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed took the onus upon himself in this precarious situation. They had lost quite a few wickets by then and there was nothing they could do about it. Although Sarfraz could play his shots, he had to be a little cautious, which didn’t help his side by any means.

Eventually, the fast bowlers did a fantastic job towards the end of the innings to propel their side to a fantastic win. They were spot on in the final few overs and made Sarfraz work hard for every run.Eventually, it was a 19-run victory for the Qalandars as their opponents could only manage 167 runs in the run chase.

Brief Scores

Lahore Qalandars: 186/4 in 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 94, Gulraiz Sadaf 42; Hasan Khan 1/3)

Quetta Gladiators: 167/6 in 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 42. Jason Roy 36; Sunil Narine 2/22)

Player of the match: Fakhar Zaman