Dubai: A new look sometimes brings the best out in people, and Lahore Qalandar’s Umar Akmal proved that on Monday night during the course of his knock of 93 against Quetta Gladiators.

Umar shaved off his beard and went on to play a breezy knock with a shower of sixes.

When asked about his new clean-shaven look, Umar said: “My father told me that I am young and the beard which I had grown does not suit me. He told me to grow a beard only when I grow old and he feels when I am clean-shaven I will look fresh and the opponents may also feel it.”

Opponents Quetta felt the heat of Umar’s knock as he hit the fastest 50 in the tournament so far off just 22 balls and went for the kill. It looked like he would score a century as he was belting everyone for boundaries and sixes.

He fell to the last but one ball of the innings trying to hit a six to reach the three-figure mark.

When asked if he was disappointed on missing out on his century, Umar said: “I am not at all sad because this is a big score and had I scored it, it would have been the first in the PSL and my name would have been among the top international cricketers. All credit to Ahmad Shehzad who had scored a century in all formats.”

Umar believes that Pakistan Super League will help him perform well in the Twenty20 format. “PSL is a good step and we hope it will help us in international cricket,” added Umar.

Losing a match, after three successive victories, was a big blow for Sarfraz Ahmad, the skipper of the Quetta team. “This is a wake-up call for our team. Full credit to the Lahore team. Cameron Delport started well and then Umar played an exceptional innings. We did our best, but the average run rate went beyond 10. When the asking rate is high, you lose wickets,” said Sarfraz, who also had a bad day behind the wickets.

But Sarfraz believes Sharjah Cricket Stadium and the atmosphere will once again bring the best out of his team. “The wicket was different and the pitch looked improved, I think the coming games will produce bigger scores. Sharjah will be better, the ground is small and people come in large numbers — it is a small ground, but you have to hit sixes to win matches.”

Sarfraz also termed the defeat as “one bad day” in cricket. “To win matches the top four should score runs in T20. Our bowlers were also winning us matches but they can have one bad day. Pressure is always there, and a low target is often tricky. We chased this time a target of around 200 but couldn’t reach it. We will learn from it and play it match by match.”