And with that it's a wrap from us. Gladiators finding form at just the right time with two wins from their last three games now, but more questions than answers for the Qalanders who have now lost three on the trot. Still only two points between them and the three sides tied on six points above - and they'll be in action tomorrow once more against Rawalpindiz to get themselves right back in the mix. What this result has confirmed however is that Peshawar Zalmi become the first team to qualify for the next round. And on that note, on behalf of Ahsan and the rest of the team, this is Madushka signing out!
Saud Shakeel: "We have been looking for such a win as these wins lift the entire dressing room. We have not been providing enough runs for the spinners to attack. But today they had the runs and situation where they could attack and it worked for us. [On Rilee Rossouw] There have not been big scores from our batters, but they have been making small useful contributions. It is good for the team that Rilee has gotten into form. The few hits from Jacob towards the end are also beneficial for the team in the larger scheme of things"
Shaheen Shah Afridi: "Our batters are struggling in Karachi. It is not as if we are out of the tournament. The upcoming back to back matches are an opportunity for our batters to step up. We have to keep believing in ourselves and divert our energies in winning the upcoming matches. It has to be a team effort as it takes a team to win the matches, not an individual. We have to win the next four games. It would not be easy, but we will give our best. [Though we have not been scoring runs, but] Bowlers need to step up in the middle overs and take wickets."
Player of the Match is Usman Tariq: "[pressure from being wicketless?] To be honest, there was no such pressure on me because it's part of the game. I was having a good economy at that time, but people will expect us to take wickets as well. I'm also trying to take wickets for the team but unfortunately that doesn't always happen. [batters needed score of you tonight?] You can see that when you don't have a good score on the board, batters don't try to hit or take risks. Maybe that was a reason I couldn't take wickets. But when you have runs on the board for sure they will try to hit and you can take the wickets. [relaxed?] Yeah of course, this is the only thing that I know - when you're head is calm, your body will respond in the proper way. It's better to stay calm, I am the same way."
10.14pm Handshakes all around, as Gladiators revel in a solid all-round performance to take them into the top four. It was a win setup by the bowlers as Jahandad Khan and Alzarri Joseph dismantled the Qalandars top order early, before Usman Tariq ran through the middle and lower order. Only some late Usama Mir hitting pushed the score up to what it was, but it was one that was always below par. Two wickets in the powerplay gave Lahore some early hope but a 104-run stand between Hasan Nawaz (49 off 32) and Riley Rossouw (60 off 49) settled the game. Nawaz continued his fine tournament form, making it to the top three run-getters this tournament, while Rossouw also found some timely runs. The Gladiators may have started slow but they certainly seem to picking up the pace at the business end of things.
