Quetta Gladiators journey in this year’s Pakistan Super League ended as they were marauded by 110 runs by Multan Sultans in the 25th match of the PSL. This is by far the biggest defeat for any team (margin of runs) in the PSL history. Needing to win this game to stay alive in the competition, Gladiators started too slow for the liking in their chase of 184.
Imran Khan and Imran Tahir were the picks of the bowlers for Sultans. The two Imrans shared five wickets in themselves with Khan picking the first two and Tahir the penultimate three. Shan Masood was the hero with the bat for Sultans.
With Usman Khan and Jake Weatherlad trying to find their feet as openers in the Gladiators’ chase, Imran Khan struck twice in the fourth over to send off Weathrald and Cameron Delport.
Usman Khan was run out, more by the fault of Gladiators skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed’s wrong calling than his own fault. With the required run rate mounting up, Azam Khan tried to slash one of Blessing Muzrabani’s delivery way too hard, he ended up handling an easy catch to wicketkeeper and Sultans skipper Mohammad Rizwan. In the very next over, trying to up the ante, Srarafaz played a wayward hook shot and was caught at the third man off the bowling of Sohail Tanvir.
Post Sarfaraz’s wicket, it was all formalities that were completed by Tahir with his three dismissals. The entire Gladiators team were bundled out for 78, the joint second-lowest total in the competition.
Srarafarz, as frustrated as he seemed in the game, was a bit toned during the post-match interview where he said, “We didn't have a lot of our foreign players available due to various reasons and it did upset our playing combination a little bit and unfortunately nothing went to plan today.”
Earlier in the evening, it was all Masood with the bat as the tall left-hander demolished the Gladiators bowling, scoring a 42 ball 73, his highest individual score in PSL history. In the process, the ‘Test match specialist’ as he is known, hit four humungous sixes alongside seven glorious fours. The 31-year-old Kuwait born was adjudged Man of the Match for his performance.
Johnson Charles, laying his first game for Sultans this season was also right at the money, fetching 47 off 24 balls. And even as Rizwan, Sohaib Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw, the usual power hitters failed, Multan was able to get to a winning total of 183.
Reacting to the third win in a row, Rizwan said, “When there are 10 games in such a tournament, you need to catch momentum somewhere and in our team, someone or the other puts the hand up and gives us that much-needed momentum.”
While Quetta are now out of the Playoff’s race they can still turn out to be a party pooper for Karachi Kings when they face them on the last day of the group stages on June 19. The Sultans would now try and climb the uphill to make sure they finish in the top two by winning their last two games, the first one of which is against Lahore Qalandars on June 18 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.