Nothing seems to go right for the Multan Sultans this season.
In their Pakistan Super League 2019 opener, Multan were 164/5 with two overs left to go in a chase of 184, but scored just 12 runs and lost four wickets in those remaining 12 balls. There was the game against Lahore, in which, having scored 200/6, they had 81 runs to defend from the last six overs, only to lose to an AB de Villiers special.
Then came their two games against Peshawar Zalmi. On Sunday, they failed to defend 31 off the last three overs, with Kieron Pollard walloping 25 off 10 on a pitch where only one other batsman had managed a strike rate of 150, and then it was deja vu in Thursday’s rematch, when Pollard came in with 88 required off 51. He was dropped on 14, but even at that point, Multan had 52 to defend off four overs. No prizes for guessing what happened next.
That’s four of their five losses which they could have won with better batting, or, better death bowling. Instead, they’re rooted to the bottom of the points table.
The playoffs are not out of the question – after all, they’re only two points behind fourth-placed Lahore Qalandars. But as long as that inability to win close games remains an Achilles heel, finishing in the top four will be an uphill climb.
Quetta Gladiators have an easy formula to avoid that: don’t get caught in close games. Yes, they have clinched a win with a last-ball six this season, but they needed just seven runs from the final over in that game against Lahore before Sarfraz Ahmed took it to the last ball.
There have been a couple of below-par performances – Karachi and the second game against Lahore were fairly one-sided defeats – but there’s a reason the Gladiators are among three teams tied on eight points at the top of the table.
⚡️⚡️ #SpeedAlert@TeamQuetta presents the next speed sensation of Pakistan🇵🇰
— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) February 28, 2019
Mohammad Hasnain clocking 1️⃣4️⃣7️⃣, 1️⃣4️⃣8️⃣ and 1️⃣4️⃣9️⃣ KPH on his @thePSLt20 debut.
courtesy: @_cricingif #PurpleForce #KaiKaiQuetta #ShaanePakistan pic.twitter.com/KusVA6irq9
They have plenty of in-form players – four batsmen in the top-20 run-scorers this season, a feat matched only by, ironically, Multan, and four bowlers among the top-20 wicket-takers. That’s a sure-fire recipe for success. Another is to have a good mix of foreign and Pakistani players in form: Quetta have Shane Watson, Rilee Roussow, Umar Akmal, and Sarfraz Ahmed in the batting department. Add that with the bowling form of Fawad Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Ghulam Mudassar – though he can be a tad expensive – and Mohammed Nawaz, and two young Pakistan stars firing, opener Ahsan Ali and fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain, and Quetta have found the recipe for success.
They are, however, on a two-game losing streak having won their first four games. But here’s a good sign: the only Multan loss that wasn’t a close game? It came against Quetta.
LIKELY TEAMS
Multan Sultans: Umar Siddiq (wk), James Vince, Johnson Charles, Shoaib Malik (c), Daniel Christian, Shahid Afridi, Tom Moores, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Nauman Ali
Quetta Gladiators: Shane Watson, Ahsan Ali, Rilee Roussow, Umar Akmal, Danish Aziz, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Harry Gurney
Match starts 20:00 UAE time
