Khawaja Nafay, on Monday (February 20), starred with the bat to help Quetta Gladiators beat defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the fourth match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL 2024). Batting first, the Qalandars posted a big total of 187 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. While most of their batters failed to fire, opener Sahibzada Farhan scored a fighting fifty to keep his team on track before Jahandad Khan came up with a whirlwind cameo to take the team to a 180-plus total.
While Farhan scored 62 runs off 43 balls, Khan smashed an unbeaten 45 off just 17 balls with the help of 3 fours and 4 sixes. For the Gladiators, Akeal Hosein and Mohammad Hasnain picked up two wickets apiece. In reply, the Gladiators chased down the total on the first ball of the final over.
Jason Roy and Saud Shakeel gave their team a solid start by adding 69 runs for the first wicket before both of them departed in quick succession. However, Khawaja Nafay held firm at one end and did not let the Qalandars capitalise on the breakthroughs. He went on to score an unbeaten half-century to take his team home. The right-handed batsman scored 60 runs off 31 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes.
Khawaja Nafay’s favourite batters:
After playing the match-winning knock against the reigning PSL champions, Khawaja Nafay revealed the name of his favourite batsmen. He revealed the names during the post-match press conference. The 22-year-old picked India captain Rohit Sharma and former Pakistan captain Babar Azam as his favourite batsmen.
Watch:
"Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma are my favourite batters" – Khawaja Nafay 🇵🇰🇮🇳🔥🔥
[Grassroots/PCB] #HBLPSL9 #PSL2024 pic.twitter.com/Tcr8D6rvK4
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) February 20, 2024
Talking about Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam, they are presently busy with the Test series against England and the PSL 2024 respectively. Rohit-led India are currently leading the five-match series 2-1. They lost the first Test by 28 runs before bouncing back and winning the second and third Test. In the third Test, India thrashed England by a record margin of 434 runs to take the lead for the first time in the series.
Babar, on the other hand, is busy playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL. He started his campaign with a 68-run knock but Zalmi still ended up losing the game against the Gladiators.
