ISLAMABAD: Defending champions Multan Sultans defeated Quetta Gladiators to set up a record-breaking 117-run win in their Pakistan Super League (PSL) match at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
PSL is Pakistan’s professional T20 cricket league that has, over the course of over half a decade, become the country’s most popular sporting event. The month-long tournament features six different teams, each representing a Pakistani city.
Multan won the toss and decided to bat first in the game. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 83 runs off 54 deliveries.
Rilee Rossouw scored 71 runs off just 26 balls, while Shan Masood chipped in with 57 runs off 38 deliveries.
Multan put up a massive total of 245 runs on the score board in 20 overs, at a loss of three wickets.
Mohammad Irfan, Naseem Shah and Ghulam Mudassar took one wicket each.
In response, Quetta kept stumbling and were all out for 128 runs in 15.5 overs. Umar Akmal (50), Jason Roy (38) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (17) were the top scorers.
Shahnawaz Dahani and David Willey finished with identical figures of 2-22, while left-arm spinners Asif Afridi and Khushdil Shah also picked up two wickets apiece.
Table-toppers Multan Sultans couldn’t hope for a better PSL campaign, with Mohammad Rizwan-led side winning eight of their nine matches.
Sultans have lost only to the second-best team in the tournament, Lahore Qalandars.
The Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Quetta Gladiators, on the other hand, have fared poorly so far, winning only three games and losing six.
Gladiators are placed at number five on the points table, just above Karachi Kings, who remain winless in the tournament.