Cricket Highlights, 11 March: PSL 2023 (Match 28) – Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans

Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans (Match 28) – Highlights

Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans squared off yesterday (March 11) on Saturday in the Pakistan Super League’s 28th game. Usman Khan’s century in a crucial game helped Multan Sultans set a record for runs scored. In response, the Quetta Gladiators, who had just one day earlier broken the record for the run chase, came dangerously close to making history.

In addition, Quetta Gladiators are out of the series after winning just three of the previous ten games, while Multan Sultans are in second place after winning six of the previous ten games. On the other hand, Abbas Afridi’s outstanding bowling earned him the distinction of the man of the match.

This season of the Pakistan Super League has produced an unprecedented number of runs in the cricket world. The runs in the most recent games have exceeded 450. It also set several new records. But this time all those records were surpassed by Multan Sultans. Multan scored 262 runs against Quetta Gladiators at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which is the record for the highest total in eight PSL seasons.

Prior to this, 244 was the most score in a PSL game. Multan also made that record against Peshawar Zalmi just the day before. With 5 balls remaining, Muhammad Rizwan’s squad exceeded the 243-run score set by Peshawar. The Multan team also smashed their own record this time. 

The Quetta Gladiators elected to field first after losing the toss. It only took Usman Khan six overs to refute Muhammad Nawaz’s choice. In the tempest of this disastrous start, Multan scored 100 runs in just 6.3 overs.

Usman played in his debut PSL game in this encounter. He also played flawless innings, scoring 120 runs off of 43 balls. In the innings, this right-handed hitter hit 12 fours and 9 sixes.

Multan has scored 156 runs in 10 overs without losing any wickets. Multan had a chance to beat the most runs ever scored in a T20 match. Yet the team was unable to pull that out. 55 runs off 29 balls were scored by Rizwan. Russouw came back and made 15 off 9 balls. Tim David and Kieron Pollard combined for two 58 runs in the end. Multan’s run then 262 on the scoreboard. When David scored 43 runs off 25 balls, he was unbeaten. Along with that, Pollard scored 23 runs on 14 balls.

In response, Quetta Gladiators nearly won the match by chasing Multan’s massive score. Yet at 253 runs for 8 wickets, they were forced to declare. They had to put an end to their playoff aspirations after losing the game by nine runs.

In reaction, Quetta initially lost the wicket of Jason Roy, but afterward, Martin Guptill and Omair Yusuf worked together to cause a storm. They effectively reacted by scoring 60 runs in just 4.3 overs. Ihsanullah, however, split this duo. Later Mohammad Hafeez joined the dressing room at 68 runs. Following that, Iftekhar Ahmed and Yusuf created a strong partnership to secure the fourth wicket. Quetta had a notion that they could use their bat to chase an impossibly high target and win. But in 14.4 overs, Abbas Afridi put a stop to that fantasy.

Iftekhar was caught out by Afridi after scoring 53 runs off of 31 balls. In the following over, Ihsanullah returned Omair Yusuf. He needed just 36 balls to score a team-best 67 runs.

Mohammad Nawaz and Umar Akmal were also dreaming. But Nawaz, who contributed 16 runs to the team’s 208 runs, was brought back by Abbas. He sent Umaid Asif back in the very next ball, increasing the chance of a hat trick. 

With four sixes that day, Umar Akmal was still giving Quetta cause for optimism. But in the subsequent over, Abbas Afridi sent Akmal back. He also completed a hat trick. Akmal scored 28 runs off 10 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes.

Qais Ahmed and Naveen Ul Haque then made an attempt. Yet all it did was close the deficit. In the end, Quetta ran out of runs after 20 overs, scoring 253. In 7 balls, both scored 17 runs.

Abbas grabbed 5 wickets and gave 47 runs in 4 overs. Ihsanullah claimed two wickets. Anwar Ali secured the final wicket.

Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans Scoreboard

Quetta Gladiators – 253/8 (20.0)

Multan Sultans – 262/3 (20.0)  

Result – Multan Sultans won by 9 runs   

Player of the match – Abbas Afridi

Abbas Afridi

Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans Playing XIs