Multan Sultans advanced to the PSL 2024 semifinals with a resounding 79-run rout of Quetta Gladiators in the season’s final league match. This triumph solidified their position atop the standings and guaranteed them two opportunities to qualify for the championship match. An outstanding batting display by Mohammad Rizwan and Johnson Charles, who each scored a half-century, propelled the team to 185 runs prior to the bowlers seizing control and inflicting a severe defeat on the opposition in advance of their own post-league eliminator match.
The Sultans lost their first-ball batsman Yasir Khan to a miscued draw shot by Mohammed Amir. However, Rizwan and Usman Khan contributed significantly to a steady powerplay score of 43 by scoring 17 runs off Abrar Ahmed in the fifth over. Usman Khan was dismissed by the leggie’s flatter delivery, which slid off the surface and landed on the pads of the batter in front of the stumps. During the midpoint of the innings, the Sultans’ advancement remained modest at 70/2.
Rizwan was joined by Charles, and the two batsmen generated an immediate surge in momentum by each hitting a six in the two overs that followed. As Rizwan approached a fifty-plus haul, Charles assumed control and pushed Usman Tariq over deep midwicket for a six. He then demonstrated his dexterity by dipping a delivery past point for four. After reaching his milestone, Rizwan hit another six but was dismissed for 69 off 47 balls while attempting to lift an Amir off-cutter. In contrast, in the subsequent over, Charles inflicted further damage upon Tariq by striking the enigmatic spinner for two additional fours and a six.
The West Indian, who reached fifty off 27 balls, was amply supported at the end by a cameo by Iftikhar Ahmed as the Sultans amassed 77 runs in the final six overs to threaten Peshawar, which had defended 147 the night before, with a formidable 185.
Furthermore, it was an inadequate target, as the Gladiators’ pursuit rapidly stalled. After failing to hit a pull-shot, Jason Roy was dismissed LBW by his countryman David Willey. This dismissal sparked a heated verbal altercation between Roy and the fielders of the Sultan. Within the same over, Saud Shakeel was dismissed in pursuit of a legbye that did not materialize.
The Gladiators were trailing three goals at the conclusion of the powerplay, after which Willey defeated Rilee Rossouw with an outstanding yorker. After that, they were unable to recover from the sanction of $37 imposed by Omair Yousuf. Usama Mir assisted in dismissing the lower order, and his three-wicket haul, combined with Willey’s three-fer, put an end to the Gladiators’ run in 16 overs. On Thursday, March 14, the Sultans will face Peshawar Zalmi in the first qualifier matchup. The following evening, on March 14, the Gladiators will face Islamabad United in the eliminator matchup.
