Tariq, Rossouw star as Gladiators down Qalandars

Karachi
A disciplined bowling display, followed by an unbeaten half-century from Rilee Rossouw, powered Quetta Gladiators to a commanding six-wicket victory over defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the 26th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at the National Bank Stadium on Friday.
Set to chase a modest 135-run target, the previous edition’s runners-up comfortably amassed the total for the loss of four wickets and 22 balls to spare.
The Gladiators, however, had a contrasting start to the pursuit as they lost both their openers, Shamyl Hussain (zero) and Saud Shakeel (one), inside three overs with just 11 runs on the board.
Following the early setbacks, Nawaz joined Rossouw in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to raise a 104-run partnership for the third wicket, which put the Gladiators in command.
Sikandar Raza eventually broke the match-defining partnership in the 14th over by getting Nawaz stumped, who fell agonisingly short of a well-deserved half-century, making 49 off 32 deliveries with the help of six fours and two sixes.
The Gladiators then lost another wicket in the next over as Haris Rauf cleaned up Dinesh Chandimal, who could make three runs off five deliveries.
Meanwhile, Rossouw stood his ground firmly and ultimately steered the Gladiators over the line in the 17th over, alongside Bevon Jacobs, who contributed with 14 not out from just six deliveries.
The left-handed batter top-scored for the Gladiators with an unbeaten 60 off 49 deliveries, studded with five fours and two sixes.
For the Qalandars, only Raza, Rauf and captain Shaheen could pick up a wicket apiece.
Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s decision to bat first backfired as the holders could muster 134 in 19.5 overs.
The Qalandars got off to a shaky start to their innings as Jahandad Khan bowled their right-handed opener Mohammad Naeem (four) in the second over with 20 runs on the board.
Experienced opener Fakhar Zaman tasted the same fate as he was cleaned up by Alzarri Joseph five balls later, and walked back after scoring 20 off 11 deliveries with the help of four boundaries.
Joseph struck again in his next over, dismissing Charith Asalanka (six) and reducing the Qalandars further to 36/3.
Right-arm pacer Saqib Khan inflicted another blow on the Qalandars by trapping Mohammad Farooq (two) lbw in the seventh over.
Following the flurry of wickets, Abdullah Shafique (17) and wicketkeeper batter Haseebullah Khan attempted to launch a recovery as they batted cautiously to add 18 runs for the fifth wicket, but Usman Tariq broke the budding partnership by getting the former stumped.
He struck again in the same over, dismissing Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who bagged a two-ball duck.
With the scoreboard reading 60/6 in 10.4 overs, Haseebullah was joined by experienced all-rounder Sikandar Raza in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to add crucial 24 runs for the seventh wicket before the latter was cleaned up by Tariq on the first delivery of the 17th over.
Haseebullah was then involved in another important partnership for the Qalandars – a 25-run stand for the eighth wicket with Daniel Sams – until getting run out on the second delivery of the penultimate over.
The wicketkeeper batter remained the top-scorer for the Qalandars with a gutsy 33 off 37 deliveries with the help of four fours.
His dismissal paved the way for Usama Mir to walk out and bat, and the No.10 batter scored valuable runs at the backend for the Qalandars with a blistering 22-run cameo off just seven deliveries, featuring three sixes and a four, until falling victim to Jahandad on the fourth delivery of the final over.
Jahandad dismissed Haris Rauf on the successive delivery to wrap up an overall decent outing with the ball for the Gladiators.
The left-arm pacer jointly spearheaded the Gladiators’ bowling charge with Tariq as the duo took three wickets each, followed by Joseph with two, while Saqib chipped in with one.