The fourth match of the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) took place under blue skies and bright sunshine in Providence, Guyana, and saw the Lahore Qalandars securing a win against the Hampshire Hawks by four runs.
Carlos Braithwaite won the coin toss and decided to have first use with the bat but his side was put under immediate pressure by the English outfit. Mirza Baig was cleaned up in the second over by the wily left-arm spin of Danny Briggs whilst opening partner Adam Rossington hung around to provide some ballast.
Qalandars couldn’t break the shackles though, when Rossington fell for 30 off 29 deliveries the Pakistani side was struggling at 37-3 off eight overs.
Some much-needed lower-order hitting from Player of the Match Luke Wells (35* off 24) and from Muhammad Akhlaq (23* off 12) would prove crucial though. Akhlaq smote three sixes off James Fuller’s second over with some lusty blows down the ground and over midwicket, ending the Qalanders’ innings at 135/5.
Hampshire struggled with the bat in response, spluttering to 50 off the first ten overs, leaving them with a demanding run rate for the rest of the game. Asif Afridi’s left-arm spin blocked up the scoring, just 16 runs came off his set of four overs and the Hawks joined up a series of dots with the bat to see their required run rate go into double figures.
With three overs to go the Hawks needed 36 from 18 deliveries. Faheem Ashraf pulled off a fantastic catch diving forward low to the turf to get rid of the dangerous-looking Benny Howell and then Liam Dawson committed the cardinal blunder of not running his bat in when attempting a quick single a couple of balls later, Carlos Brathwaite and Shamsi combining to run him out at the non-strikers end.
Hawks’ Captain Chris Wood hit the final ball of the penultimate over from Ashraf’s over wide long-on for six to leave the Hawks requiring 21 off the final over. Captain Brathwaite took it upon himself to bowl it for the Qalandars and his opposite number Wood was then run out in a similar manner to Dawson.
There was a sting in the tale and late drama as James Fuller hit two consecutive sixes off Brathwaite to leave Hawks needing a third in a row to steal the win at the last. But Brathwaite held his nerve to deliver a perfect yorker and secure the win for Qalandars. Both sides have now won one and lost one as things tightened up in the GSL table.
