An all-round performance led Multan Sultans to ease past Quetta Gladiators by a massive margin of 79 runs in the 30th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 here at National Bank Stadium on Tuesday.
The emphatic victory helped Sultans to reclaim the top spot in the PSL 9 standings with 14 points and also booked their Qualifiers clash with Peshawar Zalmi, who moved to second.
Sultans will take on their nemesis Zalmi tomorrow in the first qualifier with the winner heading to the final and the loser will meet again to the winner of the first eliminator on next Saturday. Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United will face off in the first eliminator on Friday while the final will be played on Sunday.
Omair Yousaf’s 25-ball 37 runs innings was the only highlight of the Quetta batting while all other batsmen failed to show any resistance.
Usama Mir, the leading wicket-taker of the PSL, David Willey took three wickets each. Abbas Afridi claimed two scalps ahile Muhammad Ali contended wit one.
Put into bat first, the Sultans registered a formidable total on the board, courtesy of a collective effort from their batters.
The Sultans, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as they lost their opener Yasir Khan (12) in the third over with just 16 runs on the board.
Following the early blow, in-form Usman Khan joined Mohammad Rizwan in the middle and knitted an anchoring partnership.
Their second-wicket stand yielded 52 runs before Abrar Ahmed cleaned up Usman with a quicker delivery. Usman managed 21 off 23 deliveries, hitting three boundaries.
Meanwhile, Rizwan stood his ground firm and partnered strongly with Johnson Charles to put Sultans in control.
They added 65 runs for the third wicket before Rizwan fell victim to Mohammad Amir in the 17th over. He remained the top-scorer for the Sultans with a 47-ball 69 which featured one boundary and four sixes.
Later, Iftikhar Ahmed joined forces with set-batter Charles and bolstered the Sultans’ total with belligerent hitting. The duo added a quickfire 46 runs to the tally before Charles finally perished in the final over.
He remained a notable run-getter for the Sultans with 53 off 29 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and three sixes.
Iftikhar, on the other hand, carried his bat all the way through with an unbeaten 20 off eight deliveries which included two boundaries and a six.
Mohammad Amir led the bowling charge for Quetta Gladiators with two wickets but was expensive while Abrar and Akeal Hosein and Mohammad Wasim Jr picked one each.