Shaheen's first over burst blows away Gladiators

Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (player of the match) produced another searing opening over to lay the foundation of his side’s thumping eight-wicket win over Quetta Gladiators in the 20^th match of the HBL Pakistan Super League 7 played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Sunday night.

Shaheen sent back Gladiators batting mainstays Jason Roy and James Vince for ducks in the first over of the match to send the home crowd into raptures. Gladiators never recovered from the body blows as they were restricted to 141, a target that was easily surpassed by Qalandars.

Shaheen known around the world for his first over exploits especially in the T20 format accounted for Roy with a short-ball on the second ball of the match before bowling Vince with a vicious in swinger, the ball after. Roy’s dismissal was sweet revenge for Shaheen since the England opener had taken Shaheen apart during his blazing century when the two sides met in Karachi last Monday.

Following Shaheen’s exploits Gladiators crashed to 25 for four as captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (12) and opener Ahsan Ali (8) were also dismissed cheaply.

Umar Akmal (25) played some stylish shots before his dismissal to David Wiese. Gladiators eventual 141 for seven total was only possible due to a typically gutsy 52 off 39 balls from their seasoned middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed. The right-hander hit three massive sixes and two fours in his first half-century for the Gladiators.

Qalandars have now strengthened their hold of the number two slot on the points table and have one foot in the play-offs with five wins and 10 points from seven games. Gladiators are still at number four with three wins from seven games (six points).

Other performers

Fakhar Zaman continued his golden run with the bat as he guided his side through to the chase with his sixth fifty-plus score in the tournament in his seventh outing. The left-hander hit six fours in his 53 off 42 balls. He now has 469 runs at 67, the most for any batter in the HBL PSL 7.

After adding 41 runs for the opening wicket with Abdullah Shafique (19), Fakhar added 77 for the second-wicket with Kamran Ghulam who posted his maiden HBL PSL fifty. The right-hander scored an unbeaten 55 off 39 balls (four fours, one six) to ensure the Qalandars reached the target without any hiccups. The chase was completed with 14 balls and eight wickets to spare.

Player of the match Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Credit goes to the team, as a bowler when the team backs you, your performance automatically improves. In T20 any batter can take you apart but it is not that a batter has his day all the time. Today, I just wanted to make sure that I make use of the swing that was on offer and I am happy that it came off well for us. It is easy to lead such a wonderful and world-class bowling attack it makes my job as a captain easy.”

Scores in brief:

Quetta Gladiators 141 for 7, 20 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 52, Umar Akmal 25; David Weise 2-25, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-27)

Lahore Qalandars 143 for 2, 17.4 overs (Kamran Ghulam 55 not out, Fakhar Zaman 53; Noor Ahmad 1-24)