LAHORE: Multan Sultans just had too much firepower for Quetta Gladiators.

The holders were ruthless and relentless as they dispatched Gladiators bowlers to all parts of the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday, en route to winning the eighth match of their HBL Pakistan Super League campaign.

Captain Mohammad Rizwan (83 not out) and Shan Masood (57) had shared an opening stand of 119 in 12 overs but they went berserk when Rossouw came to the crease after Shan’s dismissal.

Rossouw, who made a 26-ball 71, and Rizwan plundered a 103 in just 37 deliveries as the Sultans amassed 245-3, narrowly missing out on the PSL’s record score by just two runs.

They did break a record though — their own record set against the same opposition — when they bundled out the Gladiators for 128 for a 117-run victory, bettering their 110-run victory over Sarfraz Ahmed’s men last year.

Sarfraz remained not out on 17 for his side, whose playoff hopes are now hanging by a thread with their final match of the league stage to come against Karachi Kings.

Even a win wouldn’t suffice as they need to drastically improve their net run rate while hoping Islamabad United, who are two points better off having played a game less, lose their final two matches.

Their defeat, however, made sure that Peshawar Zalmi confirmed their berth in the playoffs alongside table-toppers Sultans and Lahore Qalandars.

The victory was a statement of intent by the Sultans, who showed exactly why they are favourites to retain their title — hitting eight sixes and 24 boundaries after electing to bat.

Shan hit a six and six fours in his fourth half-century of the season before his 38-ball knock was brought to an end by veteran pacer Mohammad Irfan.

The lanky Irfan was the Gladiators’ best bowler but pulled out halfway through his fourth over as Rizwan and Rossouw took charge.

Rossouw crached four sixes and nine fours before he was finally caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off Naseem Shah.

Khushdil Shah then hit two fours before departing while Rizwan hit two fours in the final over, taking his tally to seven along with three sixes, as the Sultans fell short of United’s score of 247-2 which was set against Peshawar Zalmi last year.

Gladiators were then rocked with the ball as Will Smeed and Ahsan Ali were sent back early.

Umar Akmal (50) and opener Jason Roy (38) added quick runs but wickets kept tumbling for the Gladiators.

After Roy was dismissed, Ifthikhar Ahmed saw his stumps shattered by Asif Afridi. Umar went soon after completing his half-century as he tried to accelerate as the Gladiators were reduced to 96-5.

It was a hole Sarfraz couldn’t dig them out of.—Mohammad Yaqoob

Scoreboard

MULTAN SULTANS:

Batters & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Shan Masood lbw b Irfan 57 38 6 1 150.00

Mohammad Rizwan not out 83 54 7 3 153.70

Rilee Rossouw c Iftikhar b Naseem 71 26 9 4 273.07

Khushdil Shah c Ahsan b Mudassar 10 4 2 0 250.00

Tim David not out 0 0 0 0 -

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, NB-2, W-17) 24

TOTAL (for three wickets, 20 overs) 245

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-119 (Shan), 2-222 (Rossouw), 3-235 (Khushdil)

DID NOT BAT: Aamer Azmat, Asif Afridi, Rumman Raees, Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, David Willey.

BOWLING: Irfan 3.3-0-28-1 (1w, 2nb), Tanvir 4-0-52-0, Naseem 4-0-41-1 (1w), Mudassar 4-0-56-1 (7w), Noor 4-0-52-0 (2w), Iftikhar 0.3-0-11-0 (1w).

QUETTA GLADIATORS:

Batters & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Jason Roy c Aamer Azmat b Willey 38 19 7 1 200.00

Will Smeed lbw b Willey 1 2 0 0 50.00

Ahsan Ali c Willey b Asif 1 2 0 0 50.00

Umar Akmal c Shahnawaz b Imran 50 23 2 6 217.39

Iftikhar Ahmed b Asif 4 8 0 0 50.00

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 17 23 1 0 73.91

Sohail Tanvir c Rossouw b Khushdil 5 8 0 0 62.50

Noor Ahmad b Shahnawaz 8 4 0 1 200.00

Naseem Shah b Shahnawaz 2 3 0 0 66.66

Ghulam Mudassar run out 0 2 0 0 0.00

Mohammad Irfan b Khushdil 0 1 0 0 0.00

EXTRAS (W-2) 2

TOTAL (all out, 15.5 overs) 128

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10 (Smeed), 2-23 (Ahsan), 3-58 (Roy), 4-76 (Iftikhar), 5-96 (Umar), 6-108 (Tanvir), 7-118 (Noor), 8-121 (Naseem), 9-126 (Mudassar).

BOWLING: Asif 4-0-42-2, Willey 2-0-22-2, Rumman 1-0-9-0, Shahnawaz 3-0-22-2 (1w), Tahir 3-0-16-1, Khushdil 2.5-0-17-2.

RESULT: Multan Sultans won by 117 runs.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar and Rashid Riaz (both Pakistan)

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob (Pakistan)

MATCH REFEREE: Ali Naqvi (Pakistan)

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2022