LAHORE: Veteran all-rounder Kieron Pollard’s blistering half-century recovered Multan Sultans to 160/5 before bowlers powered Multan Sultans into the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight final with a dominant victory over Lahore Qalandars.
Set to chase a modest 161 to seal the final berth, the Qalandars’ batting lineup failed completely and was bundled out for a meagre 76 in the 15th over.
The hosts had a dismal start to their run chase as Sultans’ pacers Sheldon Cottrell and Anwar Ali ripped through their top order, causing them to slip to 19/3 in the fourth over with in-form batters Abdullah Shafique (0) and Fakhar Zaman (6) also perishing cheaply.
Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi promoted himself in the batting order again but the move did not pay off this time around as he too fell victim to red-hot Cottrell inside the powerplay for a two-ball duck.
Following the slump, Hussain Talat and Sam Billings looked to settle things down with a gritty 13-run partnership for the fifth wicket before a casual effort while running between the wickets brought an end to the former’s 10-ball four and added further to the misery of defending champions.
The home side then continued to lose wickets at an alarming rate and soon bundled out for a skimpy total to hand Sultans a resounding 84-run victory and a spot in the final of the extravaganza.
Billings (19) top-scored for Qalandars amid a dismal show while Haris Rauf (15) and David Wiese (12) remained the other notable run-getters as the rest could not even get into the double-figures.
Cottrell led the bowling attack for the Sultans with 3/20, followed by Usama Mir’s 2/12, while Anwar Ali, Abbas Afridi, Ihsanullah and Pollard struck out a batter each.
Opting to bat first, the Sultans managed to post 160/5 in their quota of 20 overs at the back of a brilliant 57-run knock by Pollard.
Earlier, the Sultans were off to a cautious start as their in-form opening pair of skipper Mohammad Rizwan and fastest PSL centurion Usman Khan could accumulate 53 runs before Haris Rauf castled the latter in the eighth over.
Usman could score 29 off 28 deliveries and hit four boundaries.
The strong bowling unit of Qalandars then pushed the visitors to the backfoot with calculated bowling, restricting them to 70/1 halfway through.
Young pacer Zaman Khan then drew a second breakthrough for the Qalandars as he dismissed dangerous Rilee Rossouw (13 off 12) on the first delivery of the 11th over and further dented the Sultans’ march for a big total.
Meanwhile, skipper Rizwan, who was hanging around with his gritty knock also fell short after stitching a 20-run partnership for the third wicket with Pollard. He managed to score 33 in 29 balls with the help of three boundaries.
With their struggling at 90/3 in 13 overs, Pollard brought his experience into play and put on a match-defining 65-run partnership with Tim David and ignited the flow of runs for the visitors.
The vital stand pulled Sultans out of heaps of trouble with Pollard leading the charge before falling in the final over. He top-scored for his side with a 34-ball 57, featuring a boundary and six sixes.
David, who out of his character, held his ground firm amid Pollard’s carnage, remained unbeaten with a 22-run cameo off 15 balls, smashing one boundary and a six.
Haris led the bowling attack for the Qalandars with 3/34 while Rashid Khan and Zaman made one scalp each.
