Twitter Reactions: Lahore Qalandars stun the defending champions Gladiators for the second time in the tournament

Incidentally, both the wins Qalandars registered this season came against the defending champions Quetta Gladiators.

By Anuraag Peesara

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4 Min Read

Samit Patel
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Samit Patel. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The Lahore Qalandars have not had a lot to smile about since the dawn of the PSL 2020 and they registered just their second win of the tournament on Saturday, much to the delight of their owners and fans. They produced a dominating performance with the bat and ball, annihilating the Quetta Gladiators in all departments.

The Gladiators were batting first in this encounter and lost their first wicket off the second delivery. Shane Watson’s stumps went for a toss as Shaheen Afridi got the better of him. The youngster picked up another wicket in his next over, and Samit Patel followed the suit, picking up three more wickets in the following over of  Jason Roy, Azam Khan and Ben Cutting.

In next to no time, Quetta were reduced to 21/6 and they started staring at some ugly records in the PSL history books. Sohail Khan and Zahid Mohammad were the saviours for the side in this precarious situation, alongside a struggling Mohammad Nawaz. These three batsmen put on a temporary fight, which allowed the defending champions to earn a respectable total.

They were restricted to 98 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their 20 overs. Sohail Khan, who came in at number 9, was their highest scorer, chipping in with a 32-ball 35. Samit Patel was the pick of the bowlers, who registered outstanding figures of 4/5 in his 4 overs.

Hafeez and Dunk make merry of the meagre run chase

Fakhar Zaman started on the front foot for the Qalandars, who smashed some boundaries early on to break any kind of confidence the bowling side was carrying from the innings break. His innings was cut short in the third over, but by then the Qalandars had already scored 27 runs.

Mohammad Nawaz was the man who provided the breakthrough and he immediately provided another one, dismissing the other opener Sohail Akhtar. Although it was still beyond the reach of the Gladiators, they showed no fight after that as the experienced duo of Ben Dunk and Mohammad Hafeez took charge.

They weathered the early storm out and clipped a few good boundaries when there was a chance. They added 68 runs for the 3rd wicket and took the side over the line with 49 balls to spare, their biggest win in those terms. Hafeez remained unbeaten on 39 whilst Dunk spanked a 21-ball 30.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to this rare good performance from the Qalandars:

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PSL 2024Lahore QalandarsQuetta GladiatorsPakistan