Young Khawaja Nafay starred with the bat as Quetta Gladiators registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Monday.
Quetta breezed past the 188-run target in 19.1 overs with five wickets in hand, handing the defending champions a second consecutive defeat at their home ground.
Batting first, Lahore lost their ace opener Fakhar Zaman early in the innings, who was undone by Akeal Hosein for a 9-ball 6 in the third over. The early wicket helped Quetta tighten the screws as Lahore only managed 43 runs from the powerplay.
However, Sahibzada Farhan’s 43-ball 62 scripted Lahore’s recovery in the middle overs, while Jahandad Khan’s quickfire 45 helped them post a fighting total of 187/7 on the board.
Akeal Hosein was the pick of the bowlers for Quetta for his brilliant spell of 17-2-4.
In response, Quetta’s new opening pair put up another 50+ stand, setting the platform for a smooth chase.
However, both openers lost their wickets in quick succession, leaving too much for an unsettled middle-order to do.
Young Khawaja Nafay, who was playing just his second PSL game, was promoted up the order by skipper Rilee Rossouw.
With his unbeaten 60* off 31 balls, he led Quetta through the recovery phase while keeping the scoreboard in check, before finishing off the game without breaking a sweat.
Points Table Update
This was the second successive win for Quetta Gladiators. They have earned two points, taking their tally to 4. They now sit comfortably at the top of the table, followed by Multan Sultans, and Islamabad United in the second and third spots with two points each. The other three teams are yet to register a win in the tournament.
Next Fixtures
Fans will witness an important game between Multan Sultans and Islamabad United at 7:00 pm on Tuesday. The match will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Past PSL Winners
PSL 2016 – Islamabad United
PSL 2017 – Peshawar Zalmi
PSL 2018 – Islamabad United
PSL 2019 – Quetta Gladiators
PSL 2020 – Karachi Kings
PSL 2021 – Multan Sultans
PSL 2022 - Lahore Qalandars
PSL 2023 - Lahore Qalandars