Magnificent power-hitting by Ben Dunk helped Lahore Qalandars end their losing streak and win their first match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 against defending champions Quetta Gladiators at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday.
Dunk hit a 43-ball 93 and was supported by Samit Patel who scored 71 runs from 40 balls as Qalandars ended their innings with a competitive total of 209 from five.
In reply, Gladiators could only manage 172 runs in their allotted 20 overs and we were all out on the last ball of their innings, despite a 27-ball 53 by Ben Cutting.
Qalandars got off to a slow start as Chris Lynn and Fakhar Zaman opened the innings for the home team, scoring only three runs during the first over.
Lynn hit two fours and Zaman hit another two fours in the third over upping the pace of the game.
However, Zaman got out in the fifth over as he hit the ball towards midwicket only to be caught out by Anwar Ali.
Lynn was caught out by wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed on Mohammad Hasnain's ball.
The home team's third wicket fell just a few balls later as Watson took a sharp catch of Mohammad Hafeez's shot on Fawad Ahmed's ball.
Qalandars were a dismal 61-3 at the end of 10 overs, but Dunk and Patel then took over the game and kept on piling runs. They stopped only when they were both dismissed in the last three balls of the innings.
Earlier, Gladiators won the toss and chose to field first.
Teams:
Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), JJ Roy, SR Watson, Ahsan Ali, Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, BCJ Cutting, Anwar Ali, Fawad Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Lahore Qalandars: Sohail Akhtar (c), Fakhar Zaman, CA Lynn, Mohammad Hafeez, BR Dunk, Muhammad Faizan, SR Patel, S Prasanna, Dilbar Hussain, Salman Irshad, Shaheen Shah Afridi