MULTAN: Multan Sultan’s young pacer Ihsanullah wreaked havoc over the strong Quetta Gladiators batting lineup before Rilee Rossouw powered the home side to a dominating nine-wicket victory with an unbeaten 78-run knock. Set to chase a mere 111, the Sultans sealed the victory in style in the 14th over as Rossouw smashed back-to-back sixes to Mohammad Nawaz and finished as the top-scorer with an unbeaten 78. The Sultans had a shaky start to the run chase as Shan Masood fell on the first delivery on the second over after managing to score a mere three.

Following the early hiccup, Sultans’ skipper Mohammad Rizwan anchored the run chase with Rossouw as the duo put on a match-winning 108-run partnership and made sure his side claim two valuable points. Rossouw was the core aggressor of the match-winning partnership as he scored a quickfire 78 off just 42 deliveries, laced with nine boundaries and three sixes, while Rizwan remained unbeaten on 34-ball 28. Nuwan Thusara, who provided the Gladiators with an early breakthrough, remained the only bowler to pick up a wicket for the touring side. Put into bat first, the Sultans’ pacers dominated a star-studded Gladiators’ batting lineup and bundled them out for a mere 110 runs in the 19th over.

The Gladiators found themselves in trouble against Sultans’ bowling attack right from the start as Sameen Gul handed the home side an early breakthrough in the second over by removing Martin Guptill (7) with just 10 runs on the scoreboard. Hard-hitting opening batter Jason Roy then put on a brief second-wicket partnership with young Abdul Wahid Bangalzai before the latter perished after scoring a mere one. The Gladiators then began to lose wickets at an alarming rate with Ihsanullah running through their lineup with five wickets in his first three overs, and eventually ended up with the seventh-best bowling figures of PSL’s history.

The side slipped from 33/1 to 68/8 in the span of just 52 deliveries before experienced batter Mohammad Hafeez alongside Mohammad Hasnain began the recovery.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 16 2023

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