PSL 2018, Match 13 Review: Multan Sultans thump the Gladiators in a one-sided encounter

After losing a game to Islamabad and another one to rain gods later, the Multan Sultans find themselves back on winning ways. It was a fairly one-sided contest with the Sultans absolutely annihilating the Gladiators in every department. They were clinical with the ball and outstanding with the bat as well.

Batting first, Umar Amin and Shane Watson got their side off to a moderate start before they lost two wickets in a span of three balls. Firstly, Amin fell prey to some excellent bowling from senior bowler Sohail Tanvir and Rameez Raja was the next to go in the 5th over. Shane Watson fell exactly two balls after the powerplay, pushing them into further trouble.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed had a big responsibility on his shoulders and he delivered big time. He stitched some small, but effective stands with other batsmen. Unfortunately for the Gladiators, no one managed to stick around and support the skipper’s cause and this eventually led to a big downfall.

The Sultans’ bowlers were absolutely on fire, especially in the second half of the first innings. Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, and Imran Tahir registered outstanding figures to thwart their opposition from scoring anything big. After finding themselves in a decent situation at 101/5 before the end of the 15th over, they lost their next 5 wickets in 6 balls, scoring just one run.

Mohammad Nawaz and Sarfraz were sent back to the pavilion by Sohail Tanvir off successive deliveries and then came Imran Tahir’s magical over. He picked up the third hattrick in the history of PSL, which included the wickets of Hasan Khan, John Hastings, and Rahat Ali. This saw the Gladiators get catastrophically bowled out for 102 runs, which must’ve been a huge blow to their morale.

Sohail Tanvir returned with figures of 3/14, whilst Tahir registered impressive numbers of 3/19. Junaid Khan bowled brilliantly in the first 6 overs and got two big wickets of Shane Watson and Rameez Raja.

Kumar Sangakkara smashes a fifty

103 run-target can never trouble even a side with the worst morale. Shoaib Malik and his troops were already off to a flying start in their first-ever appearance in this tournament and as one would expect, they managed to chase the total without sweating much.

Kumar Sangakkara and Ahmed Shehzad played cautious and sensible cricket, which was the need of the hour. There was no need to rush or anything and the experience of Sangakkara came in handy big time. The occasional boundary kept floating in and the runs kept coming at over 7 an over, which was more than sufficient at that point.

The game was clearly done and dusted by the time the Sultans went past the 10 overs mark. Their first wicket fell in the 11th over after the opening partnership of 66. Ahmed Shehzad walked back, but Sohaib Maqsood joined the party to complete the run chase. Both these players ensured they didn’t lose any more wickets.

Sangakkara reached his fifty and with a lot of time remaining, Sarfraz Ahmed took the ball in his hand to bowl the eventual final over. Maqsood smashed a six to complete one of the easiest wins for the Sultans.

Brief Scores

Quetta Gladiators: 102 all out in 15.4 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 30; Sohail Tanvir 3/14, Imran Tahir 3/19)

Multan Sultans: 108/1 in 16.4 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 51*)

Result: Multan Sultans won by 9 wickets

Player of the match: Sohail Tanvir