Umar Gul's six-wicket burst in vain as Hasan Khan helps Quetta Gladiators stun Multan Sultans

Denzil Pinto 01:03 08/03/2018
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  • Quetta won with one ball to spare. Pic courtesy: @thePSLt20/Twitter

    Hasan Khan hit the winning six as Quetta Gladiators stunned Multan Sultan to win by two wickets and one ball to spare to keep their play-off hopes alive in the Pakistan Super League. Chasing 153, Quetta were struggling at 118-6 but smashed 40 runs in their last four overs to hand Multan Sultans their second defeat. Fast bowler Umar Gul’s remarkable effort thus went in vain. He finished with stunning figures of 6-24, reached 200 wickets in T20 cricket but still ended up on the losing side.

    Shoaib Malik had top-scored for Multan with 65 not out in their score of 152-5. In the chase, Quetta saw decent contributions from Rilee Rossouw (27) and Shane Watson (26).

    Here are the key takeaways from the match:

    SHOAIB MALIK IS CAPTAIN MARVEL

    When he arrived at the crease, Multan were in trouble at 41-3 after six overs. The 36-year-old’s previous top-score this competition was 48 not out but and he bettered that by some margin on Wednesday with unbeaten 65 from 43. He formed vital partnerships with Sohaib Maqsood, Ross Whiteley and Keiron Pollard before leading the assault in the last five overs. He hit back-to-back boundaries in the 16th over before reaching his fifty through a four off Rahat Ali for his first PSL half-century of the season. He later returned to dismiss Kevin Pietersen for five.

    FRUSTRATING DEBUT FOR BEN LAUGHLIN

    Drafted into the Quetta Gladiators squad following Jofra Archer’s injury, the 35-year-old Australian pacer did not have the best of starts. He accounted for the in form Sohaib Maqsood. But, that was as good as it got for Laughlin. What started positively turned out to be a disappointment. His third over went for for 11 and his final for 18 as Malik and Pollard attacked at the death.

    QUETTA’S NEVER-SAY-DIE ATTITUDE

    It seemed Quetta were staring at another defeat when Rilee Rossouw was dismissed in the 17th over. At that point, they were 118-6 but last season’s runners-up did not give up. Big hitting from Anwar Ali (15 from 8), Mohammad Nawaz (11 from 4) proved vital before Hasan Khan’s six off Pollard completed an unlikely win.

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