Fakhar Zaman's blitz topples Quetta Gladiators

Lahore Qalandars 186 for 4 (Fakhar 94, Sadaf 42*) beat Quetta Gladiators 169 for 6 (Rossouw 42, Narine 2-22, Yasir 2-35 ) by 17 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Lahore Qalandars continued their late resurgence in the PSL, notching up their third successive win after downing Quetta Gladiators by 17 runs. They had opener Fakhar Zaman to thank primarily for their two points. He put on a show of fabulous power-hitting to clout 94 off 50 balls - the highest individual score this season - and lead his side to 186.

Lahore haven't made any changes to their team since picking up their first win, and their openers Fakhar and Anton Devcich gave them a solid start again. However, when Devcich, Agha Salman and Brendon McCullum - the captain who was controversially given out off a no-ball - fell in quick succession, Fakhar held the innings together, brilliantly supported by a 27-ball 42 from wicketkeeper-batsman Gulraiz Sadaf. A cameo in the end from Sunil Narine (20*) ensured Lahore finished with a flourish.

With Jason Roy back in the Quetta side, their top order boasted a frightening quartet of Roy, Shane Watson, Kevin Pietersen and Rilee Rossouw. While the England opener got Quetta off to a fast start - they raced to 52 for 0 in five overs - the wicket of Watson immediately set them back. And from thereon the Quetta chase began to unravel. Narine took care of both Pietersen and Roy, and as the asking rate climbed, Quetta found themselves out of the contest. Rossouw launched a counterattack, smashing five sixes in a 22-ball 42, but it only gave Lahore a late scare. Quicks Shaheen Afridi and Sohail Khan eventually wrapped up a comfortable win.

Where the match was won

It may have taken till after Lahore were eliminated to begin working on their weaknesses, but they did illustrate the extent to which they have improved in the middle overs on Wednesday. After losing three quick wickets, Lahore's run rate had dipped below seven, and after 11 overs they were stuttering at 76 for 3. But instead of capitulating, Fakhar and Gulraiz launched an astonishing onslaught, hitting 64 in the next four overs. It included an over of fearsome hitting from Fakhar that cost 24 runs, with Rahat Ali the hapless recipient. It was the phase of the game Sarfraz Ahmed might have deemed Lahore to be most vulnerable, but they turned that weakness into a comprehensive strength.

The men that won it

While it is hard to look past Fakhar, one would be remiss to overlook vital contributions from Narine and Gulraiz. After all, Fakhar was dismissed with nearly five overs left in Lahore innings and the score only at 141, when the pair put on an unbroken 45-run stand in 28 balls.

The brain freeze


A team led by McCullum on course to win three in a row is likely to be a happy unit. That was how Lahore had been appearing all tournament. Even when they had lost six on the bounce, they never looked like a dressing room falling out with each other. But towards the end of today's contest, when both teams were almost going through the motions with the game virtually in the bag for Lahore, a bizarre scuffle erupted. Sohail Khan, who had been trying to get the attention of Yasir Shah on the boundary without success, inexplicably lost his temper and threw the ball on the full towards him. It very narrowly missed Yasir's head, and the legspinner, to put it mildly, was incandescent. It took all of McCullum's diplomatic powers to assuage the pair, but the lack of judgment from Sohail couldn't help leaving one nonplussed. The pair reconciled at the end of the game, and Yasir even laughed it off. It would have been rather different, of course, if the ball had actually made contact with Yasir.

Where they stand

Lahore drew level with Peshawar Zalmi, though they are still in last place on net run-rate. Quetta remained second, two points behind table-toppers Islamabad United.

Smith, Warner sanctions will restore cricket's 'battered' image - Morgan

Eoin Morgan hopes the sanctions imposed on Steve Smith and David Warner will have served to restore the reputation of a game he feels has been "battered" in recent days.

Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, says he was "shocked" by the Australian players' attempt to alter the behaviour of the ball with sandpaper, insisting he had never experienced such a premediated plan in any team he has represented.

But while he accepted such behaviour could damage the reputation of the game, he felt the severity of Cricket Australia's punishments - on Warner and Smith especially - sent a firm message that such tactics will not be tolerated and could improve the way the game is played around the world.

"The sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia have shown how serious the actual mistake was, how seriously they are taking it and how seriously they regard the values, principles, spirit and laws of the game," Morgan said.

"For the last two weeks, the game has been battered. But I'd like to think that the balance [between the damage done to the game and the benefits brought by the suspensions] changed when the sanctions were imposed, because they were serious sanctions.

"It's one thing to say something is wrong. But to back it up with such a sanction says a huge amount. This isn't two of their worst players, either. It's two of their best. One is possibly one of their greatest ever.

"Naturally this will pull the leash [on the way Australia play]."

Morgan accepts there are some "grey areas" around the issue of ball-tampering. The use of sugary saliva, for example, has been prevalent for years (albeit with a distinction around whether mints and sweets are directly transferred to the ball), as has the practice of fielders returning the ball to the keeper on the bounce to scuff up one side. But, the way he sees it, Cricket Australia's actions have "gone a long way" to "saying none of it is acceptable".

"I was shocked there was a premeditated plan," he said. "I've never heard talk like that in a dressing room.

"Throwing the ball in, one bounce, is fine. But if you throw to the keeper from long-on or long-off, the umpires will monitor how often the ball hits the playing surface and tell you they'll change the ball if you do it again.

"Things have changed. The LED lights on the advertising hoardings around the ground have little bulbs that stick out and they can take a huge chunk out of the ball. We have forced our bowlers to chuck it to the umpires [after it hits the board] so they don't think we have done something to the ball.

"So, yes, there are grey areas but I think Cricket Australia have gone a long way to saying none of it is acceptable."

It might have been relevant that Morgan was talking at the 2018 launch of All Stars, the ECB initiative aimed at introducing a new generation to the game. Confronted by dozens of enthusiastic children aged between five and eight, Morgan and his fellow ambassadors (Michael Vaughan, Sarah Taylor and Isa Guha) might naturally have been keen to focus on the more family-friendly aspects of the game.


But Morgan, like so many in England cricket, was deeply impressed by the example of Brendon McCullum's New Zealand side at the 2015 World Cup, in particular. Seeing New Zealand play so effectively - they thrashed England so quickly in Wellington that the game ended before the lights were turned on for the day-night fixture - without resorting to any of the posturing or 'mental disintegration' that had started to become a feature of England's Test cricket in 2013 and 2014, made a big impression.

"I massively endorse the way New Zealand play the game," Morgan said. "Just look at the Test series in New Zealand. You have two fantastic ambassadors for the game - Joe Root and Kane Williamson - playing hard but enjoying the game. Nothing has come close to being controversial. And people have enjoyed watching it.

"You can talk about it [playing the right way] all the time, but living it and breathing it is a different thing. You have to recognise when it's veering too far the wrong way. And it doesn't stop you winning."

Parents wanting their children to take part in this year's All Stars sessions can register now via allstarscricket.co.uk .