Defending Champions Multan Sultans who had already qualified for the Plays offs & are currently placed in the top two have defeated Gladiators with a massive 117 runs in the 24th match of the PSL 2022 at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
PSL 2022, MUL vs QUE
This defeat has zeroed Quetta Gladiators’ chances to qualify for the Playoffs who are lagging at the bottom of the Points table by losing six out of nine matches.
Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw & Shan Masood struck glorifying half-centuries as Multan Sultans put on 81 runs off the last five overs to post a decent total of 245 runs on board. On the way to their eighth win of this season, Multan Sultans also racked up the second-highest total and the biggest winning margin in the history of the PSL
In response, Umar Akmal & Jason Roy smashed the Sultans bowlers around the park but were unable to maintain the required run-rate by keeping the wickets intact. David Willey struck with his first delivery to remove Will Smeed & then caught Roy below the cover ring for 38 from 19 balls as Gladiators reached 66 for 3 at the end of the powerplay overs.
Umar Akmal kept their scoreboard ticking by registering a quickfire fifty off 22 balls, but once he held out off Imran Tahir the Gladiators succumbed in their chase of 245 runs. Willey, Asif Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Khushdil Shah each picked up two wickets as Gladiators were dismissed inside 16 overs, having got barely halfway to their target.
Sultans were ruthless right from the beginning of the clash, Masood & Rizwan mixed caution with aggression to put on a century stand. Gladiators ineffective bowling attack could manage 12 dot balls in the first 10 overs. Masood-Rizwan’s blooming 119 runs stand with both the openers scoring half-centuries was broken when Mohammad Irfan trapped Masood in front on review. But that simply provided the perfect stage for Rossouw to make his entry.
Rossouw’s second ball was smashed over deep backward square leg for a six & then he mixed power-hitting with perfect placing to hit three fours in a row off Noor Ahmad’s delivery. Another burst of boundaries off Sohail Tanvir saw Rossouw reach his half-century in just 20 balls. After smashing two fours & a six off Noor’s delivery in the 18th over, Rossouw went back to the pavilion at the start of the 19th over. Rossouw’s carefree 71 runs knock off 26 balls along with Rizwan’s unbeaten 83 helped the defending Champions to put a mammoth 245 runs on board.
By winning today’s clash against Gladiators, Sultans are now at the top of the Points Table with 16 points in their kitty. Multan Sultans win also ensured that Lahore Qalandars & Peshawar Zalmi progressed to the playoffs.
PSL 2022, MUL vs QUE, Brief Scores:
Multan Sultans 245/3 (Mohammad Rizwan 83*, Rossouw 71, Irfan 1-28) Quetta Gladiators 128 all out (Umar Akmal 50, Jason Roy 38, Khushdil Shah 2-17)