Gladiators condemn Qalandars to third straight loss

Quetta Gladiators cruised to a comfortable six-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars on Friday, April 18. After restricting Qalandars to just 134 thanks to an all-round bowling effort, Gladiators chased the total down inside 17 overs to move up two spots to fourth on the points table. Qalandars, meanwhile, remained at seventh place following their third consecutive defeat.

Things did not go Qalandars' way after they opted to bat first. While Fakhar Zaman started well, smashing two fours off both Saqib Khan and Jahandad Khan in the first two overs, Qalandars were reduced to 42/3 by the end of the Powerplay. The situation could've been worse had the Gladiators not dropped two catches.

The spinners then took control of proceedings with Abrar Ahmed returning figures of 0/14 in his four overs while Usman Tariq picked up 3/18. The Qalandars kept losing wickets and only reached 134 thanks to a quickfire seven-ball 22 from Usama Mir down the order. They were bowled out with a ball to spare as Jahandad finished with three wickets as well.

In defence, Qalandars had early hope with Shaheen Afridi removing Shamyl Hussain in the first over before Saud Shakeel ran himself out two overs later. Rilee Rossouw and Hasan Nawaz then asserted complete control and shut the door on Qalandars with a 104-run stand.

Rossouw reached his fifty in the 13th over while Nawaz fell one short of his after being stumped in the 14th over. Rossouw remained unbeaten as Bevon Jacobs sealed the win by hitting Haris Rauf for a six in the 17th over.

Brief Scores:
Lahore Qalandars 134 all-out in 19.5 overs (Haseebullah Khan 33, Usama Mir 22; Usman Tariq 3-18, Jahandad Khan 3-35) lost to Quetta Gladiators 138/4 in 16.2 overs (Rilee Rossouw 60*, Hasan Nawaz 49; Shaheen Afridi 1-28) by six wickets.