SHARJAH: Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators became the first two teams to qualify for the playoffs of the HBL Pakistan Super League on Tuesday after the Islamabad franchise drubbed Multan Sultans by 33 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Only the belligerence of Kieron Pollard kept Multan’s spirits high as the West Indies batsman plundered six sixes and five fours in a hurricane 47-ball knock of 73. When he went out at 142-8, so did his team’s hopes in its last preliminary-round fixture as they were all out for 152.

Islamabad’s sixth win in seven matches catapulted them to the top of standings with 12 points, two ahead of previous leaders Quetta. Defeat meant Multan’s extremely slim hopes of qualification on their PSL debut now hinge on the outcome of Thursday’s game between holders Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings. If Peshawar lose, Shoaib Malik’s Multan will go through along with Karachi.

Alex Hales made a forceful entry in the PSL as the England right-hander blasted 46 off 33 balls (five fours and two sixes) while Luke Ronchi slammed a 36-ball 58 (six fours and three sixes) to help Misbah-ul-Haq’s Islamabad amass 185-4 after Malik elected to bowl first.

But Malik’s tactics were quite puzzling in this crucial encounter. First, he persisted with part-time bowler Ross Whiteley, who was taken to the cleaners by the rampant Islamabad batsmen for 45 runs in three overs _ 30 of them in boundaries, including three sixes.

And then when Kumar Sangakkara was out on just the fourth ball of the innings, rookie Saif Badar was sent in. He was promptly trapped leg-before to give Samit Patel his second scalp in as many balls.

Multan had only reached 29-4 in the power play, in stark contrast to Islamabad’s 54-1 in the first six overs. At the halfway point, Islamabad were 87-1. When Malik fell to Shadab Khan, he took Multan’s hopes with him as were perilously placed at 50-5 after 10 overs.

Scores in brief:

ISLAMABAD UNITED 185-4 in 20 overs (L. Ronchi 58, A.D. Hales 46, Hussain Talat 36; Umar Gul 2-26); MULTAN SULTANS 152 in 19.1 overs (K.A. Pollard 73; S.R. Patel 2-11, Fahim Ashraf 2-27, Amad Butt 2-30, Shadab Khan 2-33).

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2018