Tag: Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators

RAWALPINDI: Usman Khan struck the fastest century of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) before Abbas Afridi’s five-wicket haul powered nervy Multan Sultans to edge Quetta Gladiators and put their playoff expedition to rest.

The Gladiators had a mountain to climb to stay alive in the tournament as the former champions needed to pull off the highest-ever run chase but eventually fell just nine runs short as they could accumulate 253/8 in 20 overs.

Mohammad Nawaz-led Gladiators were off to an unwanted start to pursuit as the side lost their last match hero Jason Roy (6) in just the second over with only 14 runs on the scoreboard.

Following an early setback, Martin Guptill and Omair Bin Yousuf kept the Gladiators in the hunt as they stitched a crucial 46-run partnership for the second wicket and almost kept up with the required run rate.

The pair looked to have settled down before Ihsanullah provided a much-needed breakthrough to Sultans as he removed Guptill, who scored a quick 14-ball 37 including two boundaries and four sixes.

The Gladiators were then jolted with another blow as Abbas removed Mohammad Hafeez (1) in the sixth over.

With the side struggling at 68/3 inside the powerplay, Iftikhar Ahmed joined young Omair in the middle and anchored the run chase with a 104-run partnership for the fourth wicket with scoring quick half-centuries.

Iftikhar, however, failed to stretch his knock as he fell to Abbas briefly after raising his bat, while Omair followed him in the next over, resulting in the Gladiators slipping to 178/5 in the 16th over.

Iftikhar struck 53 in 31 balls with the help of four boundaries and as many sixes, while Omair top-scored for the Gladiators with a 36-ball 67, featuring seven boundaries and three sixes.

Gladiators’ skipper Nawaz and wicketkeeper batter Umar Akmal kept their side in the hunt with a brisk 30-run partnership before Abbas struck twice in two deliveries to dismiss Nawaz (16 off seven) and Umaid Asif (0) and scripted Sultans’ comeback in the run chase.

Despite six wickets down, the Gladiators were still in the race at the back of Akmal’s cameo who was turning it on for his side with belligerent but Abbas struck on the first delivery of his next over to cut his fireworks short and completed his maiden PSL hat-trick.

Akmal smashed a 10-ball 28, hitting two boundaries and three sixes.

Following Akmal’s dismissal tailenders Naveen-ul-Haq and Qais Ahmed struck a seven-ball 17 each at the death but their cameos eventually turned out insufficient for the Gladiators to prevail.

Abbas led the bowling attack for the Sultans with 5/47 while Ihsanullah followed with two wickets. Anwar Ali, on the other hand, made one scalp.

Put into bat first, the Sultans made full use of the ideal batting conditions on offer at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here and accumulated 262/3 – the highest total in PSL – at the back of a scintillating century by Usman.

The new opening pair of Sultans – Usman and Mohammad Rizwan – charged the Gladiators’ bowlers right from the start as the pair took their side to 91/0 after the end of the first powerplay with Usman leading the baton charge.

The right-handed young batter was ruthless against his former franchise so much so that he overshadowed Rizwan, who was scoring at around 200 striker rate.

Usman kept on dominating the bowlers and struck the fastest century of PSL in 36 balls, breaking his teammate Rilee Rossouw’s record, who achieved the milestone in 41 deliveries.

His belligerent hitting soon took the Sultans past 150 at the halfway mark and thus, they were looking comfortable to become the first side to breach the 300-run mark in T20s.

Gladiators’ stand-in captain Mohammad Nawaz, finally found the breakthrough for his side as he got the dangerous Usman stumped on the first delivery of the 11th over.

Usman remained the top-scorer for the Sultans as he scored a quickfire 120 in mere 43 deliveries, laced up with 12 boundaries and nine sixes.

Following his dismissal, Sultans’ captain Rizwan looked to maintain their dominance over Gladiators and stitched a brief 30-run partnership with Rossouw, who perished cheaply for a nine-ball 15.

Rizwan then switched gears and led the attack from the front and soon brought up his half-century amid his third-wicket partnership with Tim David before Qais Ahmed got rid of him in the 15th over.

He scored a brisk 55 off 29 balls, smashing six boundaries and two sixes.

Kieron Pollard and David then made sure the Sultans did not lose their towards a massive total as the pair stitched an unbeaten 58-run stand at the backend.

David remained unbeaten with a 25-ball 43 which featured one boundary and four sixes, while Pollard scored 23 off 14.

For the Gladiators, Qais picked up two wickets while Nawaz could bag one.

MULTAN: Multan Sultan’s young pacer Ihsanullah wreaked havoc over the strong Quetta Gladiators batting lineup before Rilee Rossouw powered the home side to a dominating nine-wicket victory with an unbeaten 78-run knock.

Set to chase a mere 111, the Sultans sealed the victory in style in the 14th over as Rossouw smashed back-to-back sixes to Mohammad Nawaz and finished as the top-scorer with an unbeaten 78.

The Sultans had a shaky start to the run chase as Shan Masood fell on the first delivery on the second over after managing to score a mere three.

Following the early hiccup, Sultans’ skipper Mohammad Rizwan anchored the run chase with Rossouw as the duo put on a match-winning 108-run partnership and made sure his side claim two valuable points.

Rossouw was the core aggressor of the match-winning partnership as he scored a quickfire 78 off just 42 deliveries, laced with nine boundaries and three sixes, while Rizwan remained unbeaten on 34-ball 28.

Nuwan Thusara, who provided the Gladiators with an early breakthrough, remained the only bowler to pick up a wicket for the touring side.

Put into bat first, the Sultans’ pacers dominated a star-studded Gladiators’ batting lineup and bundled them out for a mere 110 runs in the 19th over.

The Gladiators found themselves in trouble against Sultans’ bowling attack right from the start as Sameen Gul handed the home side an early breakthrough in the second over by removing Martin Guptill (7) with just 10 runs on the scoreboard.

Hard-hitting opening batter Jason Roy then put on a brief second-wicket partnership with young Abdul Wahid Bangalzai before the latter perished after scoring a mere one.

The Gladiators then began to lose wickets at an alarming rate with Ihsanullah running through their lineup with five wickets in his first three overs, and eventually ended up with the seventh-best bowling figures of PSL’s history.

The side slipped from 33/1 to 68/8 in the span of just 52 deliveries before experienced batter Mohammad Hafeez alongside Mohammad Hasnain began the recovery.

The pair added a vital 31 runs for the ninth-wicket stand before Hasnain perished in an attempt to hit back-to-back sixes. He scored 22 off 20 deliveries with the help of two boundaries and a six.

Roy, however, remained the top-scorer for the Gladiators with 27 off 18 deliveries, while Hafeez could score 18 off 15.

Ihsanullah led the bowling attack for the Sultans with 5/12, while Abbas Afridi and Sameen bagged two wickets each.

READ: Ihsanullah registers seventh-best bowling figures of PSL

MULTAN: Young pacer Ihsanullah registered himself in the record books of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the right-arm pacer returned with seventh-best bowling figures in the league’s history.

In the ongoing third match of the PSL 8 between Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators, right-arm pacer Ihsanullah ran through the visitors’ batting lineup as he picked up five wickets for a mere 12 runs in his four-over spell.

Following his astounding performance, the 20-year-old pacer has now the seventh-best bowling figures in PSL history to his name.

The right-arm pacer dismissed Gladiators’ captain Sarfaraz Ahmed in his first over for a mere two runs before removing Jason Roy (27) and in-form Iftikhar Ahmed (0) on successive deliveries in his second over.

Ihsanullah then struck twice again as he removed Umar Akmal and Naseem Shah in his third over to bag his maiden five-wicket haul in PSL.

It is pertinent to mention that at the time this story was filed the Gladiators struggled to get to 91/8 in 17 overs.

READ: Bank Islami joins Karachi Kings as Platinum partner for PSL 8

MULTAN: Home side Multan Sultans have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Quetta Gladiators in the third match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

PLAYING XIs

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Shan Masood, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Khushdil Shah, Akeal Hossein, Usama Mir, Sameen Gul, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah.

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Jason Roy, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Martin Guptill, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Nuwan Thusara.

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches-9, Multan Sultans-5, Quetta Gladiators-4

LAHORE: Multan Sultans’ bowlers displayed combined effort after batters posted the second-highest Pakistan Super League (PSL) score; assisting their side to defeat Quetta Gladiators by the biggest runs margin of 117 runs in the league’s history.

Set to chase a mammoth 246 in the 25th match of the ongoing PSL 7, the Gladiators’ failed completely and could only manage to score 128; handing the biggest victory margin to the Sultans.

After starting poorly, the side kept losing wickets at a consistent rate in the run chase. Jason Roy and Umar Akmal, however, resisted a bit, while the rest of the batters remained clueless in front of Sultans’ bowling attack.

Roy scored a quick 38 top of the order, while Umar top-scored for his side with a brilliant 50 off just 23 balls; hitting two boundaries and six sixes.

Umar’s departure in the 10th over initiated another collapse and the Gladiators bowled out for a mere 128. The skipper – Sarfaraz Ahmed remained unbeaten with his 17.

For the Sultans, Asif Afridi, David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Khushdil Shah took two wickets each, while Imran Tahir made one scalp.

After opting to bat, Sultans set a huge target of 246 for the Gladiators, thanks to their skipper – Mohammad Rizwan and the top-order batter Rilee Rossouw, who played stunning knocks to bolster the side in the closing overs.

Earlier, Sultans’ openers – Rizwan and Shan Masood set the tone for the side; putting on a brilliant century-partnership for the first wicket. The duo appeared solid as both scored astonishing half-centuries.

Masood walked back to the pavilion in the 12th over after scoring 57 off 38 balls with the help of six boundaries and a six, while Rizwan stood firm and kept the scoreboard ticking.

Following Masood’s departure, Rossouw stood up for his team and played a blinder. The left-handed batter scored a quickfire 71 off a mere 26 balls; smashing nine boundaries and four sixes before falling short to Naseem Shah in the 19th over.

Rizwan, on the other hand, top-scored with his unbeaten 83 runs off just 54 balls with the help of 10 boundaries including three sixes.

For the Gladiators, the bowlers remained off-colour as they conceded a lot of runs and leaked 24 runs as extras. Returning pacer Mohammad Irfan, Ghulam Mudassar, and Naseem managed to make one scalp each.

LAHORE: Multan Sultans have won the toss and opted to bat first against Quetta Gladiators in the 25th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7, here on double-header Friday.

PLAYING XIs

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Shan Masood, Rilee Rossouw, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Amir Azmat, David Willey, Asif Afridi, Rumman Raees, Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Jason Roy, Ahsan Ali, Will Smeed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Irfan, Naseem Shah, Ghulam Mudassir

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches-8, Multan Sultans-4, Quetta Gladiators-4

LAHORE: In the 25th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7, the fifth-ranked Quetta Gladiators will lock horns with the table-toppers Multan Sultans in a do or die match.

On the double-header Friday, the Gladiators will be locking horns with the table-toppers of the ongoing PSL 7 – Sultans, in a must-win match as a defeat, may result in the elimination for the Gladiators.

The Gladiators, who suffered a frustrating defeat against Peshawar Zalmi in their last outing will be looking to regain their lost momentum. The 2019 champions heavily rely on their top order which features the likes of Jason Roy, James Vince, Will Smeed and in-form Ahsan Ali.

The side’s top-order, however, failed in their last fixture against Zalmi and only Smeed stood up for his team with a gritty knock.

The Gladiators’ middle-order also struggled to get going against Zalmi’s bowling attack and the side will be hoping to get back to the rhythm before the all-important face-off with the Sultans.

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Sultans, on the other hand, are enjoying an astonishing run in the mega event. They are currently leading the points table with seven victories out of the eight matches.

Just like the Gladiators, the Sultans too rely on their openers which includes the in-form Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood.

The side, however, also possesses the firepower in their middle-order as Tim David, Khushdil Shah, and Rilee Rossouw can turn things around with their berserk hitting.

In the bowling department, the side has the services of the young Shahnawaz Dahani, alongside Rumman Raees, Blessing Muzarabani, and the veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir.

A victory against the Gladiators will help the Sultans to strengthen their top position on the points table as Lahore Qalandars close in with 10 points.

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches-8, Quetta Gladiators-4, Multan Sultans-4