SHARJAH: Quetta Gladiators rode on punishing half centuries from Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw to make it three wins in three matches with their eight-wicket mauling of Multan Sultans as action shifted to Sharjah in the HBL PSL on Wednesday night.
The win — achieved in 18.3 overs after they overhauled a target of 161 — gave Gladiators six points as they continued to top the six-team table.Quetta, who won their first two matches in the first leg of the event held in Dubai, rode on a brilliant 40-ball 61 laced with 11 hits to the fence by Watson. Rossouw notched a 45-ball 67 with a six and ten boundaries as Quetta made the chase a mere cake-walk.
Shoaib Malik hit his second fifty in this PSL edition — sixth in all PSL — with a 37-ball 53 with two sixes and four boundaries. England’s batsman James Vince struck six boundaries in his 17-ball 28 to lift Multan Sultans to 160-8 after they were put into bat on a shiny Sharjah stadium pitch.
The defeat — Multan’s second in three games — put them on third behind Peshawar Zalmi, who have one win in two games, with just one win. Title holders Islamabad United are fourth while Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars are fifth and sixth, respectively.
The chase masters Quetta, who won all their matches chasing, were off to another solid start of 39 before Watson found an able ally in Rossouw as they punished Multan bowlers with authority, adding 56 for the second wicket.
Watson, who scored 81 not out in his team’s win over Islamabad United, reached his fifth fifty in all PSL, with a straight boundary off Shahid Afridi as Quetta reached 89-1 in ten overs.Watson, who now has 845 runs in 28 PSL matches, second to Peshawar opener Kamran Akmal who has 978 in 36 matches, finally fell to Afridi, with 76 needed for victory.
Rossouw also reached his half century off 35 balls with a boundary and single off Andre Russell. He and Umar Akmal, with 18-ball 17, crossed the finish line during their unbroken 66-run stand for the third wicket as Multan bowlers looked helpless and toothless.
Multan welcomed the arrival of Dan Christian and Vince while Quetta left out misfiring Ahmed Shehzad to include Ahsan Ali in their eleven.Vince was savage on Mohammad Nawaz, clobbering three boundaries in the fourth over of the innings before the left-arm spinner had the last laugh, dismissing him leg-before on review after a confident start of 34.
Shan Masood with 16-ball 18 and Laurie Evans (10 runs) took the score to 54 but both fell within the space of ten runs. Masood became one of leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed’s victim off a googly. The Pakistan-born Australian is the second best spinner in all Twenty20s — behind India’s Piyush Chawla — on strike rate off googlies.
It was Malik who steadied the innings, following his 52 and 31 not out in the previous games, with another responsible knock, lifting Multan with a fourth wicket stand of 73 with Christian.Malik lifted Sohail Tanvir for a huge six towards square-leg to complete his fifty off just 35 deliveries. Christian, fresh from his man of the match display for champions Melbourne Renegades in the BBL final, struck a six in his 19-ball 18.
Master blaster Afridi was trapped leg-before for a first-ball duck. Russell was one of three wickets to fall in the last over, having smashed three boundaries in 12-ball 18. Irfan Junior was the best of Gladiator bowlers, taking 2-32 while young Ghulam Mudassar fetched 2-44.
Quetta Gladiators won toss
Multan Sultans
Shan Masood st Sarfraz b Fawad 18
J M Vince lbw b Nawaz 28
L J Evans run out 10
*Shoaib Malik c Ahsan b Tanvir 53
D T Christian c Nawaz b Irfan 18
A D Russell c Rossouw b Mudassar 18
Shahid Afridi lbw b Irfan 0
†Shakeel Ansar not out 0
Nauman Ali c Irfan b Mudassar 2
Ali Shafiq run out 0
Extras (lb 5, nb 2, w 6) 13
Total (9 wickets, 20 overs) 160
Did not bat: Mohammad Irfan
Fall: 1-34, 2-54, 3-64, 4-137, 5-142, 6-144, 7-158, 8-160, 9-160
Bowling: Tanvir 4-0-29-1; Nawaz 4-0-28-1; Irfan 4-0-32-2; Fawad 4-0-22-1; Mudassar 4-0-44-2
Quetta Gladiators
S R Watson c sub (Ilyas) b Afridi 61
Ahsan Ali c sub (Ilyas) b Irfan 9
R R Rossouw not out 67
Umar Akmal not out 17
Extras (lb 5, w 2) 7
Total (2 wickets, 18.3 overs) 161
Did not bat: *†Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, D R Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Irfan
Fall: 1-39, 2-95
Bowling: Ali 1.4-0-9-0; Nauman 4-0-34-0; Christian 1.5-0-18-0; Irfan 4-0-26-1; Russell 3-0-33-0; Afridi 4-0-36-1
Result: Quetta Gladiators won by 8 wickets
Man of the Match: Shane Watson (QG)
Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Shozab Raza (Pakistan). TV Umpire: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan). Match Referee: Mohammed Anees (Pakistan)
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