Sharjah March 14: Bottom placed in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) points table, Lahore Qalandars brought their A game to the fore for the third consecutive time scoring a 17 run win to upset Quetta Gladiators hopes of cementing a top two finish.

Defending an imposing 186 run total, the Qalandars made regular inroads in the star-studded Gladiators line-up that was further bolstered by the presence of Jason Roy who gave his team a quickfire start with a 36 run innings off only 26 balls.

Gladiators lost Roy and his opening partner Shane Watson in quick succession as Qalandars tightened the screws, the game was virtually sealed when Kevin Pietersen fell cheaply.

Rilee Rossouw raised some hopes of his team’s resurgence with a rapid fire 42 but failed to carry his team through as the asking rate mounted.

Gladiators’ were eventually restricted to 169 for 6 in their 20 overs as Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz failed to keep up with the asking rate.

Qalandars spin twins Sunil Narine and Yasir Shah took four wickets between them.

Earlier, Man-of-the-Match Fakhar Zaman’s blistering 94 off 50 balls helped the Qalandars post an imposing 186 run total, their highest and the second highest of the tournament todate.

Fakhar struck six sixes and nine fours and fell just six short of the first HBL PSL 2018 century as Anwar Ali had him caught at deep mid-off.

The left-hander had taken 24 runs off a Rahat Ali over before falling in an attempt of reaching the three figures mark with a maximum.

Fakhar’s innings is also the highest of the ongoing edition, the southpaw dominated the bowling from the start of his innings.

With his opening partner Anton Devcich, Fakhar added 42 runs, Qalandars than lost three wickets in quick succession before Gulraiz Sadaf joined Fakhar for a 68 run stand for the fourth wicket.

Sadaf than used the long handle himself hitting Watson for two sixes in the penultimate over which went for 19 runs as Narine also hit a six off the same over.

Rahat had a forgettable day in the field conceding 51 runs in his four over spell including the battering he received at the hands of Fakhar.