Khawaja Nafay scored an unbeaten half-century to spearhead Quetta Gladiators to a five-wicket victory over defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the fourth match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 here on Monday.
Set to chase 188, the Gladiators amassed the target on the first delivery of the final over when their star batter Nafay struck Zaman Khan for a boundary.
Earlier, the in-form opening pair of Saud Shakeel and Jason Roy once again gave the Gladiators a flying start, adding 69 runs for the first wicket in less than seven overs.
But both the openers fell in the span of just three deliveries, allowing the hosts to force a comeback.
Saud struck seven boundaries and a six on his way to a 23-ball 40 while Roy scored 24 off 19 deliveries.
Coming out to bat at No.3, Khawaja Nafay, knitted crucial stands with skipper Rilee Rossouw (18), Sarfaraz Ahmed (11) and Sherfane Rutherford (14), making sure that the Gladiators do not lose momentum by hitting boundaries at regular intervals.
But with Rutherford’s dismissal in the 17th over, the home side attempted to force a late comeback, bowling tight lengths and making it tough for the batters to score freely.
Nafay, however, displayed nerves of steel and batted sensibly to guide the 2019 champions over the line in the final over after a sensational partnership with Akeal Hosein, who scored an unbeaten run-a-ball nine.
Khawaja Nafay top-scored for the Gladiators with his maiden PSL half-century, scoring 60 not out off just 31 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and three sixes.
For the Qalandars, Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Sikandar Raza, Salman Fayyaz and Zaman Khan struck out a batter apiece.
