In the 30th match of Pakistan Super League Season 9, Multan Sultans emerged victorious with an impressive 79-run win over Quetta Gladiators at the National Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.

Despite facing a challenging target of 186 runs, the Gladiators struggled to maintain momentum, losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually getting all out for 106 runs in 15.5 overs.

Omair Yousaf top-scored with 37 runs, followed by Khawaja Nafay with 16 runs. Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Wasim Junior, and skipper Rilee Ros-souw contributed 14, 13, and 10 runs respectively, while no other batsman managed to reach double figures.

The bowling prowess of David Willey and Usama Mir shone as they claimed three wickets each, supported by Abbas Afridi with two wickets and Mohammad Ali with one. Additionally, Saud Shakeel was run out, adding to the Gladiators’ woes. Mohammad Rizwan’s stellar performance earned him the player of the match title.

Asked to bat first, Multan Sultans faced an early setback with the dismissal of Yasir Khan for 12 runs, leaving them at 16/1.

However, skipper Mohammad Rizwan’s impressive knock of 69 runs, coupled with Usman Khan’s contribution of 21 runs, stabilized the innings with a 52-run partnership for the second wicket. Johnson Charles further bolstered the Sultans’ position with a quickfire 53 runs, supported by Mohammad Rizwan as they added 68 runs together.

A late flourish by Iftikhar Ahmed, scoring 20 runs, propelled the Sultans to a formidable total of 185/4 in their allotted 20 overs.

Mohammad Amir claimed two wickets for the Gladiators, while Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Junior took one wicket each.—APP