Karachi Kings gifted Quetta Gladiators a couple of points in Lahore late Friday night after being in a commanding position to chase down 143 with eight wickets in hand and just 50 runs to get in the last eight overs. The Gladiators were in action after a week and after a couple of losses, defending a score like 142 would really instil confidence in the side, especially after the Kings were cruising at one stage at 93/2 in the 12th over. The capitulation of the monumental standards just pulled the wind out of the Kings’ sails as they succumbed to their third loss of the season.

The rustiness showed in the Gladiators’ batting as, apart from Faheem Ashraf and Kusal Mendis, no other batter showed much resistance for the Men in Purple and they were dismissed for 142. The Kings too lost a couple of early wickets, but it never looked like they weren’t in control of the chase with Tim Seifert going great guns while James Vince holding one end up. However, a collapse saw the Kings lose five for 14 in 4.4 overs and they ended up losing the match by five runs. Hasan Ali did his best to get the Kings home, but he was left with too much to do alone.

The Gladiators’ camp erupted in animated celebrations with captain Saud Shakeel letting out a huge roar and the team mentor Sir Vivian Richards pumped up in the dugout. Richards was doing powerful and furious high-fives while hugging the head coach, Moin Khan, in delight. They knew how big a win this was, considering that the Kings are in second place on the table.

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Tha Gladiators play four matches in the next eight days and would hope that this win starts off a run for them. The Kings, on the other hand, will hope that they can string a couple of wins together because this stop-start campaign isn’t helping their momentum.