Twitter Reactions: Sikandar Raza shines as Lahore Qalandars defeat Quetta Gladiators to register fourth consecutive win

Lahore Qalandars. (Photo Source: ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)

Lahore Qalandars won their fourth game in a row as they beat Quetta Gladiators by 17 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The defending champions crossed swords with Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Quetta Gladiators in Match 18 of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Upon winning the toss, Sarfaraz decided to field first in order to give a hard time to the home side. Lahore Qalandars suffered a top-order collapse as they lost nearly half the side in under 50 runs. However, Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Sikandar Raza’s impressive knock revived the innings.

Raza smashed 71* off just 34 balls which included three sixes and eight fours and remained unbeaten to guide the side to attain 148 runs in 19.2 overs before the team was skittled out. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nawaz and Naveen-ul-Haq claimed two wickets each whereas Umaid Asif, Odean Smith, and young Naseem Shah scalped one wicket each to wrap up the innings.

Gladiators squander strong head start in run chase

The ball seemed to be in Quetta’s court considering the decent performance the side displayed in the first innings. In addition to this, the openers handed a terrific head start to further extend their dominance in the contest.

Openers Yasir Khan and Will Smeed put up a 53-run partnership before the former was dismissed by ace pacer Haris Rauf. Following his dismissal, things went south for the Gladiators as they swiftly lost five wickets in less than 14 overs into the chase.

Rashid Khan and veteran pacer David Wiese worked in tandem to get the vital scalps and turn the tables. Skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who came down the middle-order had to carve out a captain’s knock in order to get the derailed side back on track.

However, with the constant pressure put forth by the Qalandars skipper and his bowling unit, Quetta appeared to be in a tough spot. Sarfaraz too was unable to crack the code and get the big scores in order to plan an instrumental turnaround.

With 25 required from the final over, Quetta could only manage to get only eight runs thereby handing a 17-run victory to the defending champions. Haris Rauf returned with a three-wicket haul with bowling figures of 3/22 in his four overs.

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