Multan Sultans crush Quetta Gladiators in high-scoring thriller

Multan Sultans have defeated Quetta Gladiators by 30 runs in a high-scoring match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) played at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Multan Sultans captain Shan Masood and Rilee Rossouw displayed power play as they shared over a 100 runs stand with Rossouw remained unbeaten on 100 off 44 deliveries studded with six sixes and ten fours while Masood got out after scoring 46 runs with the help of six fours.

They finished at 199 runs after losing only five wickets.

In reply, the Quetta Gladiators fell 30 runs short of the 200-run target though their openers came out with guns blazing. J. Roy got out early but still managed to score 30 runs hitting six boundaries.

The star of the Gladiators innings was Shane Watson who hit seven sixes and as many fours in his 41-ball 80 runs with a strike rate of nearly 200 percent. But he still could not take his side to the victory.

None of the other batsmen of the Quetta Gladiators showed any guts which could threaten the Multan Sultans’ bowlers in the late overs. Ahsan Ali scored 14 runs, Azam Khan scored six, big-hitter Ben Cuttling 12 and all-rounder Anwar Ali managed to score only 10 runs.

Quetta Gladiators were able to score 169 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs.

For Multan Sultans, the pick of the bowlers was Bilawal Bhatti who took three wickets by giving away 26 runs in his four overs, while Imran Tahir also grabbed two wickets by giving away 27 runs in his quota of four overs.

Sitting on top of the points table, the Multan Sultans have stunned everyone this year after winning the wooden spoon for the last two years in PSL. The Gladiators, on the other hand, are comfortably sitting on the second spot with six points from four games before today’s match.

The Sultans started the tournament on the right foot, winning their first game of the tournament by five wickets against Lahore Qalandars. However, they lost their next game to two-time winners Islamabad United by eight wickets, before winning their next two games — one by six wickets against Peshawar Zalmi and other by 52 runs against Karachi Kings.

Quetta also started on a high note, winning their first match by three wickets against Islamabad United, but lost their second match by six wickets against Peshawar Zalmi. They then turned things around, winning their next two games by five wickets each against Karachi Kings and Islamabad United, respectively.