Kevin Pietersen's brutal knock (88* off 42 balls) led Quetta Gladiators to a five-wicket victory.

By Abdullah Ansari (18th February, 2017)

Lahore Qalandars Team

Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Fakhar Zaman, Umar Akmal, Cameron Delport, Mohammad Rizwan, Sunil Narine, Sohail Tanvir, Bilawal Bhatti, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan Jr.

Quetta Gladiators Team

Ahmed Shehzad, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfraz Ahmed, Saad Nasim, Mahmudullah Riad, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Hasan Khan, Zulfiqar Babar.

Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bowl again. The move appeared to backfire very early on as the Lahore openers smashed the bowlers to all parts. Fakhar attacked the spinners while Roy took majority of the strike and smashed the bowlers to all parts en route to a 24-ball fifty as the openers plundered 75 in the first powerplay. However, the young spinner Hasan Khan dismissed the England opener - Umar Akmal made a quick 17 before also getting dismissed by him. The innings slowed down a bit as Fakhar was also dismissed, caught in the deep off Zulfiqar - however, Rizwan and Delport batted through the innings, slowly accelerating and then finishing with a big flourish as they both hit boundaries with ease in a 77 run partnership off just 6.5 overs as Lahore got to 200.

Quetta's start was not as good as Lahore's with Saad Nasim dismissed early on by Sohail Tanvir while Shehzad fell to Irfan Jr. after a run-a-ball 15. Rossouw came out to bat like a man on a mission, providing the initial impetus to the innings with a 18-ball 33 before he was out to Irfan. Meanwhile, Pietersen motored along, hitting the occasional boundary. Perera was quickly dismissed and Sarfraz joined the England ace at the crease. The equation kept getting tougher and they needed 77 off the last 5 overs. However, the two batsman ferociously counter-attacked with three sixes off Narine's over helping to get 21 off it. Pietersen then went after Irfan Jr., plundering 26 off his over with 4 sixes. There was one last twist as Sarfraz was dismissed for 45 but Anwar quickly finished things off as Quetta won by 5 wickets with 7 balls to spare as Pietersen finished on 88* off just 42 balls.

Next match: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi

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