Sharjah: Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw cracked half centuries to extend Quetta Gladiators’ victory run in the Pakistan Super League at the Sharjah Stadium.
Quetta recorded their third successive victory beating Multan Sultans by eight wickets in the eighth match of the competition.
Watson followed up his unbeaten 81 against Islamabad United at Dubai International stadium with a knock of 61 off 40 balls with 11 boundaries. Rossouw remained unbeaten on 67 off 45 balls with ten boundaries and a six. Umar Akmal chipped in with an unbeaten 17 to win the match with nine balls to spare.
Quetta Gladiators won the toss and elected to field. Multan began with their opener JamesVince going for his shots from the first over. He hit Sohail Tanvir from two consecutive boundaries off the last two balls of the first over. Mohammad Nawaz bowled a tight second over giving away just five runs. In the third over, Vince swept Mohammad Irfan for a boundary.
The fourth over was an eventful one with Vince hitting Mohammad Nawaz for three boundaries but fell to the fifth ball of the over missing a sweep and getting trapped leg before for 28. Opener Shan Masood then began hitting out. He hit Mohammad Irfan for two consecutive boundaries, Multan crossed the 50 run mark in 5.5 overs.
Laurie Evans and Masood added 20 runs in three overs when leg spinner Fawad Ahmad had Masood stumped with a googly for 18. Two overs later, Evans got run out in a mix up with his skipper Shoaib Malek for 10.
Malek picked two consecutive boundaries off Ghulam Mudassar but still runs did not flow freely. Multan reached the 100 run mark in the 14th over. Malek reached his 50 off 35 balls and added 72 runs for the fourth wicket with Daniel Christian. Malek hit Tanvir to Ahsan Ali after adding three more runs to his fifty. Christian too followed, caught at long off by Mohammad Nawaz off Mohammad Irfan for 18.
Shahid Afridi fell for a duck trapped leg before by Irfan. In the last five overs, Multan could add only 49 runs but lost six wickets.
Needing a run rate of eight runs per over, Quetta began with opener Watson stroking beautifully. In the fourth over, Watson hit Nouman Ali for four consecutive boundaries.
Mohammad Irfan removed opener Ahsan Ali, who top edged to Nouman at third man off Mohammad Irfan for 9. The opening pair put on 39 runs in 4.2 overs. Rilee Rossouw joined Watson and maintained the run flow. Watson raced to his half century in 29 balls lifting Afridi for a straight boundary. The pair put on 56 runs in 6.5 overs before Afridi ended Watson’s knock when he top edged to Tom Moores at long off.
After Watson fell, Rossouw took charge and started hitting. He hit Irfan for two consecutive boundaries in the 13th over and in the 14th over hit Afridi for a six and a boundary. In the last five overs Quetta needed 33 runs. Rossouw raced to his 50 in 35 balls hitting Andre Russell for a boundary. Umar Akmal too hit Russell for a boundary to ease the pressure. Their 50 runs partnership with Akmal came in 31 balls at the pair comfortably steered the team to victory.
Brief scores:
Quetta Gladiators bt Multan Sultans by 8 wkts. Multan Sultans 160 for 9 in 20 overs (James Vince 28, Shoaib Malek 53, Mohammad Irfan 2 for 32, Ghulam Mudassar 2 for 44) Quetta Gladiators (Shane Watson 61, Rilee Rossouw 67n.o).
