Quetta Gladiators sealed their spot in the playoff stage of the Pakistan Super League after defeating Lahore Qalanadars at the National Stadium Karachi on Sunday.

“One can see the emotions there and we did our job well,” Gladiators skipper Rilee Rossouw said at the presentation ceremony. “Wasim played well and he was told to swing hard.”

The match was important for the Gladiators to win to finish in the top four. Qalandars, the defending champions, have been knocked out of the tournament.

The right-arm fast bowler hit six off Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi’s delivery when his side needed four runs to win the match.

Wasim, part of the team’s tailender, was able to connect his bat with the ball in the tense situation where a miss could have slimmed Gladiators’ chances in the tournament, depending on the next matches in the event.

While sharing the team’s strategy, Rossouw said that they targeted the short boundaries and they were happy to be on the winning side. “We want to beat the top side Multan now.”

Saud Shakeel was declared player of the match for his brilliant knock of 88 off 65 deliveries. “I was thinking to take the game deep,” he said and gave credit to Wasim for the finish.

He added that playing in Karachi helped him adjust to the conditions.

Qalandars Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi said that they played good cricket, but added that 160 was never going to be enough on such a pitch.

He stated that he was sad and the team should have defended 14 runs. Shaheen credited Shakeel for his batting and ended by saying that they need to prepare for the next season.

Quetta Gladiators Playing XI: Jason Roy, Saud Shakeel, Khawaja Nafay, Rilee Rossouw (c), Omair Bin Yousuf, Laurie Evans (wk), Akeal Hosein, Muhammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Amir, Abrar Ahmed Sohail Khan.

Lahore Qalandars Playin XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Tahir Baig, Abdullah Shafique, Shai Hope (wk), Shaheen Afridi (c), Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, George Linde, Jahandad Khan, Zaman Khan, Tayyab Abbas.