Red-hot Pietersen demolishes Lahore in HBL PSL

SHARJAH: Reeling from a corruption scandal, the second season of HBL Pakistan Super League needed a shot in the arm from some of its biggest stars.

All eyes were on the likes of Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum — two of the T20 league’s biggest stars — to provide this competition the sort of oomph that could make it a success with the fans.

While the duo has failed to do that so far, Kevin Pietersen gave a boost to the PSL as he played a scintillating knock to guide Quetta Gladiators to a stunning triumph against Lahore Qalandars at the Sharjah cricket stadium on Saturday night.

The English star had looked out of sorts in Quetta’s previous outings this year but he finally regained his golden form to demolish Lahore in the high-scoring encounter.

Quetta needed one of their stars to stand up and deliver after Lahore accumulated 200-3 thanks to Jason Roy and Fakhar Zaman.

It was high time that Pietersen heard their call. The former England captain had just scored three runs from his first three PSL outings this season. Those outings included two golden ducks.

On Saturday, the fans saw a different Pietersen as he smashed eight towering
sixes in his unbeaten 88 which came off just 42 balls. He smashed 39 runs off his last nine balls to catapult Quetta
to the top of the table.

Agencies add: Earlier, Jason Roy had struck 51 from just 27 balls to lay the platform for the first score of 200 so far in the competition.

Fakhar Zaman, an unheralded left-hander who is the leading Pakistani run-scorer in the competition, posted
47 while Mohammed
Rizwan, the young wicket-keeper, played a fine late cameo worth 46 not out.

In reply to Qalandars’ 200 for three, Pietersen top scored, while Sarfraz Ahmed (45) and Rilee Rossouw (33) also made valuable contributions. The win was the third of the competition so far for Quetta.

Score Board

Quetta Gladiators won toss

Lahore Qalandars

J J Roy b Hasan        51

Fakhar Zaman c Ahmed b Zulfiqar  47

Umar Akmal c Mahmudullah b Hasan         17

†M Rizwan not out    46

C S Delport not out   35

Extras (lb 3, nb 1)    4

Total (3 wickets; 20 overs)  200

Did not bat: *B B McCullum, S P Narine, Sohail Tanvir, Bilawal Bhatti, M Irfan (4), Yasir Shah

Fall: 1-77, 2-107, 3-123

Bowling: Zulfiqar 4-0-28-1; Anwar 3-0-37-0 (1nb); Perera 4-0-37-0; Nawaz (3) 3-0-44-0; Hasan 4-0-28-2; Mahmudullah 2-0-23-0

Quetta Gladiators

Ahmed Shehzad b Irfan       15

Saad Nasim c Rizwan b Sohail        5

K P Pietersen not out 88

R R Rossouw c Bilawal b Irfan        33

N L T C Perera c sub (Aamer) b Delport     1

*†Sarfraz Ahmed c Rizwan b Sohail 45

Anwar Ali not out      12

Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1)       3

Total (5 wickets; 18.5 overs)         202

Did not bat: M Nawaz (3), Mahmudullah, Hasan Khan, Zulfiqar Babar

Fall: 1-13, 2-24, 3-81, 4-89, 5-190

Bowling: Sohail 3.5-0-47-2 (1w); Narine 4-0-38-0; Irfan (4) 4-0-48-2 (1nb); Bilawal 1.1-0-19-0; Yasir 4-0-31-0; Delport 1.5-0-18-1

Result: Quetta Gladiators won by 5 wickets

Points: Quetta Gladiators 2, Lahore Qalandars 0

Man of the Match: K P Pietersen (Quetta Gladiators)

Umpires: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan) and Shozab Raza (Pakistan). TV umpire: Ahmed Shahab (Pakistan). Match referee: R S Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Points Table

Teams M       W       L        T        N/R     Pts

QG      5        3        1        0        1        7

PZ      4        2        1        0        1        5

IU       4        2        2        0        0        4

LQ      5        2        3        0        0        4

KK      4        1        3        0        0        2