Pietersen's blitz blindsides Lahore
Quetta Gladiators smashed 63 runs off their last 17 balls - led by Kevin Pietersen at his world-beating best - to stun Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in Sharjah
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Quetta Gladiators smashed 63 runs off their last 17 balls - led by Kevin Pietersen at his world-beating best - to stun Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in Sharjah. In a stupefying contest, without question the match of this season, history repeated itself as Sarfraz Ahmed's men hunted down a 200-plus target for the second consecutive year against Lahore.
A key phase of the game that might get lost in the late carnage was the period just after Quetta lost their openers. Without the 57 off 30 deliveries that Rossouw and Pietersen added between the fifth and tenth overs, there would have been no opportunity for Quetta to finish the game off in style. Rossouw was integral in that period, not just with his runs, even though he contributed 33 of them to that partnership, but also his attitude. He swung from ball one, recognising that was the only route to victory for his side. It looked like he had been dismissed too early, with his side still needing 120. But the man at the other end was only just beginning to warm up.
This sort of knock is why Pietersen is so sought after by T20 franchises around the world. A major disappointment of this year's PSL had been that none of its three biggest stars - Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Pietersen - had been able to play an innings their reputation demanded of them. But in a scarcely believable passage of play, Quetta whacked eight sixes in 13 balls, six of them coming from Pietesen's bat, as a target that had looked insurmountable suddenly appeared a stroll. Sarfraz played a brilliant, unselfish supporting role, scoring 45 off 25 balls. But the day belonged to Pietersen as the hapless Lahore side watched him wrench a game they thought they couldn't lose.
Lahore scored 75 in the Powerplay overs, the highest in PSL history. They doubled up on that by scoring just as many in the last six, and all of that without McCullum facing a ball.
The defeat might turn out to be a pivotal one for Lahore. Victory would have taken them to the top of the standings. It is Quetta who take that mantle now, with seven points from their five games. Lahore slip to fourth, with four points from five matches.
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000