Khawaja Nafay made a notable impact as Quetta Gladiators secured a convincing five-wicket victory over Lahore Qalandars in the fourth match of the ninth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The 22-year-old scored an unbeaten 60 while successfully chasing a target of 188, leading Quetta to their second consecutive win in the competition. Meanwhile, Lahore suffered their second consecutive loss.
After this game, Quetta are now at the top of the points table with four points and an NRR of 0.635 while Lahore are fourth with an NRR of -0.797.
Quetta were once again provided a great start to the chase by Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel. Their 69-run stand was pivotal to lay the foundation.
Saud played a brisk innings, scoring 40 runs off 23 balls, but was dismissed by Zaman Khan. Roy contributed 24 runs from 19 deliveries before being bowled by Sikandar Raza. Saud played a brisk innings, scoring 40 runs off 23 balls, but was dismissed by Zaman Khan.
Khawaja took charge of the chase after the openers. He anchored the innings by executing some great shots. His knock featured four boundaries and three sixes, at a striking rate of 193.54.
Captain Rilee Rossouw made 18 runs before falling to Haris Rauf, while Sarfaraz Ahmed scored 11 runs before being caught by Shaheen off Salman Fayyaz's bowling.
Sherfane Rutherford contributed 14 runs but was dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Akeal Hosein, who remained not out, added 9 runs to the total, and the team concluded their innings with a score of 188 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Earlier, Sahibzada Farhan's anchoring fifty, followed by Jahandad Khan's blistering knock, propelled the defending champions to 187/7 after captain Shaheen Afridi chose to bat first.
Sahibzada smashed six boundaries and three sixes, reaching a 43-ball 62. Jahandad bolstered their total with a sensational knock, featuring three boundaries and four sixes, three of which came against Abrar in the 16th over.
He carried his bat through with an unbeaten 45 off just 17 deliveries.
