Zimbabwe's all-rounder Sikandar Raza proved to be a saviour for Lahore Qalandars as he played a match-saving knock against Quetta Gladiators at home ground on Thursday.
After being sent into bat first, Qalandars were seven wickets down for just 50 runs. Gladiators' bowling line rattled the home side who posted back-to-back 200+ scores previously.
From in-form Fakhar Zaman to Shaheen Shah Afridi, who promoted himself in the batting, Qalandars failed to get the support of its batters.
But then Sikandar, who was born in Sialkot, Pakistan, took the responsibility and led defending champions from the front.
After Sikandar scored fiery 71 not-out, Qalandars managed to recover from 50-7 to 148.
For his match-saving knock, Sikandar was highly praised on Twitter.
Sikandar starred, 71 unbeaten runs in 34 balls, as Qalandars set Gladiators a target of 149 runs.
After being asked to bat first, Qalandars were dismissed for 148 in 19.2 overs.
Qalandars were in danger of being dismissed for less than 100 runs after slipping to 50-7 against Gladiators. However, Rashid Khan and Sikandar brought their side back into the contest with a crucial fifty partnership.
Rashid was caught in the deep after scoring 21 runs in 20 balls but not before adding 69 runs in 39 balls with Sikandar.
It must be noted that Quetta bowlers gave their side a perfect start after reducing Lahore to 29-4 in the first powerplay.