Fifth-placed Lahore Qalandars comfortably chased down a 107-run target with eight wickets in hand to defeat top-ranked Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday in a low-scoring match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
AB de Villiers top scored for Qalandars, hitting 47 not-out off 38 balls while Haris Sohail remained not-out for 33 as they took Qalandars easily over the finish line in the 16th over.
Opener Gauhar Ali scored 21 runs before being bowled out by Harry Gurney.
Earlier, Qalandars leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, an 18-year-old prodigy who plays for Nepal’s One Day International squad, outshone with his googlies, taking four wickets for 10 runs and helping dismiss the entire Gladiators batting line-up ion the 19th over for 106.
Gladiators opener Ahsan Ali top scored with 33 runs while captain Sarfaraz Ahmed added 29 runs with the bat. Mohammad Nawaz scored 12 runs, while the rest of the Gladiators batsmen could not even reach double figures.
Haris Rauf took two wickets for 23 runs for Lahore Qalandars, while Shaheen Shah Afridi and Yasir Shah took one wicket each.
Qalandars and Gladiators met after their unforgettable encounter on Saturday, where Gladiators skipper Sarfraz Ahmed hit a six off the last ball from David Weise to take his team to a dramatic three-wicket win in Sharjah.
Gladiators chased down Qalandars’ total of 143-7 with no ball to spare, with Sarfraz top-scoring with 52 off 36 balls and newcomer Ahsan Ali contributing with 40 off 29. Ghulam Mudassar claimed three for 21. Qalandars regained their momentum somewhat when they chased down a mammoth 200 against Multan Sultans in a thrilling finish, with AB de Villiers smashing a heroic 52 not out off 29 balls and Weise pitching in with an unbeaten 45 off 20.
The de Villiers-led Qalandars now have three wins from six matches, whereas Gladiators’ previous defeat came against Karachi Kings.
