Rossouw, Shakeel hand Rawalpindiz fifth straight loss

Rawalpindiz's middle order imploded and they are now on the verge of a league-stage exit

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi

Published: Apr 10, 2026, 6:09 PM (3 hrs ago)

Quetta Gladiators 182 for 6 (Rossouw 53, Shakeel 42, Sears 3-41) beat Rawalpindiz 121 (Mitchell 30, Shakeel 2-4, Jahandad 2-8) by 61 runs

Rawalpindiz's misery continued as they suffered their fifth straight defeat, this time to Quetta Gladiators by 61 runs. The loss has left them on the verge of a league-stage exit as they are yet to open their account after playing half of their games.

This was Gladiators' second win in five matches and came after back-to-back defeats as Rilee Rossouw scored a steady half-century, his first of the season, before onslaughts from Hasan Nawaz and Jahandad Khan propelled their side to 182 - a challenging total on a slow wicket. Their bowlers kept Rawalpindiz's betters under the pump through tighter spells and regular wickets, and bowled them out in 17.3 overs.

The pitch for this match was the same as the one that hosted the first game of this Karachi leg, which turned out to be a low-scoring thriller between Peshawar Zalmi and Hyderabad Kingsmen. It offered exaggerated grip to the bowlers and low bounce that made shot-making a difficult proposition. It demanded the batters to err more on the traditional side of batting which Saud Shakeel and Rossouw did over the course of their 87-run stay after being inserted by Mohammad Rizwan.

While Rossouw (53 off 42) picked his deliveries to hit boundaries, Saud (42 off 39) milked the bowlers around for ones and twos to lay the groundwork for the power-hitters. Hasan and Jahandad obliged. Hasan blasted five sixes in his 39 off 16 and Jahandad plundered two sixes and two fours in his 21 not out off just six balls as Gladiators amassed 88 runs in the last seven overs.

Jahandad dented Rawalpindiz's run chase on the first ball as Rizwan edged him to Rossouw at first slip. As the partnership of 27 between Usman Khawaja, who was playing his first match of the season, and Yasir Khan started to look promising, a mix up between them resulted in the former being run out. A collapse of four wickets for only five runs at the halfway stage of the innings made the defeat inevitable, but Saad Masood's lofty blows after the strategic timeout delayed it a little. Masood top-scored with 31 off 19 balls.

There was a little drama earlier when Daryl Mitchell pulled out twice from stance because of Usman Tariq's pause. But he resumed batting after being instructed by the on-field umpire. The matter cooled down after the two players shook hands at the completion of the over.

The match was sealed with a run out as a shy from Rossouw found Mohammad Amir, who jogged towards the danger end rather than sprinting towards it, short of the non-striker's end. It was an apt ending to the match, which saw Rawalpindiz make all sorts of errors as their fielders fumbled and their batters threw their wickets to soft dismissals.

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore

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