HBL PSL: Sultans crush Quetta after Tahir’s hat-trick

SHARJAH: South Africa leggie Imran Tahir took a stunning hat-trick to catapult Multan Sultans to the top of the points-table with an authoritative nine-wicket win against Quetta Gladiators here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Tahir bamboozled Quetta’s tail as he scalped Hasan Khan, John Hastings and Rahat Ali off successive deliveries in the 16th over to play a chief role in a collapse that saw Gladiators losing their last five batsmen for just 1 run.

Quetta were always in trouble as the new ball duo of Sohail Tanvir (3-14) and Junaid Khan (2-9) took wickets at regular intervals but it was Imran Tahir, the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, who made sure that Quetta were restricted to a total as low as 102.

Sohail Tanvir got rid of Mohammad Nawaz and Sarfraz Ahmed off successive balls in the 15th over before Imran Tahir stepped in for the kill. Hasan Khan and John Hastings were clean bowled, before Rahat Ali was trapped plumb in front.

Later, Multan rode on an unbeaten 51 off 44 balls by the in-form Kumar Sangakkara to seal a big win with 20 balls to spare. The Sri Lankan legend later termed Imran’s hat-trick as unbelievable.

“The hat-trick from Tahir was unbelievable,” said Sangakkara who is one of the reasons why Multan Sultans are now at the top of the points table alongside Karachi Kings with 7 points from five matches.

Sangakkara said the conditions weren’t bad for batting. “I was just playing the ball on merit and trying to play as straight as possible. I had to change my stance a bit to give myself more time. I love batting still - there was not much swing there,” he said.

Sangakkara put up 66 for the first wicket with Ahmed Shehzad (27 off 35 balls) and was still there with Sohaib Maqsood (26* off 21), who hit a six off Sarfraz Ahed to seal Multan’s third win in the contest.

Spectacular as the Quetta collapse was, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. Instead, it was borne of stifling, wily bowling by Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan in particular. No bowler allowed themselves to be a release valves, and as a result, even batsmen like Sarfraz Ahmed, who had occupied the crease for a while, never looked set. In the 15th over, with the run rate dropping and Quetta feeling the heat, Mohammad Nawaz, and then Sarfraz, looked to go after Tanvir. Both fell off consecutive deliveries, ripping out the middle order, and a total that looked like stagnating towards 135 was instead shot out for 102. With the win, Multan join Karachi at the top of the table with seven points, while Quetta, having won just two of their five games, drop down to fifth place and are stuck on four points.