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Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans came out triumphant on the double-header on February 20 in the Pakistan Super League 2022, defeating Karachi Kings and Islamabad United, respectively.
In the first match, the Gladiators pulled off a consolation win to end their otherwise disappointing campaign, securing victory over wooden-spooners Kings by 23 runs.
Once again, it was their England recruit Jason Roy, who made the stand-out contribution, scoring 82 off 64 balls to control the innings beautifully and almost singlehandedly allowing Gladiators to inch closer to the 170-mark. The next highest score in the innings was 29 from James Vince.
Kings, too, had only had one such major contributor with the bat in wicketkeeper Joe Clarke, who made 52 off 39 deliveries. He was able to form a nice foundation for Kings along with skipper Babar Azam (36 off 34). But the middle and lower order failed miserably. Kings had to settle for just 143/8, losing for the ninth time in their disastrous campaign.
Gladiators found bowling heroes in Naseem Shah (2/14) and Khurram Shahzad (4/22), who didn’t allow the Kings to get going through the latter half of their innings. For Kings, only left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (1/27) had looked in control.
Brief scores
Quetta Gladiators 166/4 in 20 overs (Roy 82; Wasim 1/27) beat Karachi Kings 143/8 in 20 overs (Clarke 52; Shahzad 4/22) by 23 runs
In the second game of the day, Multan Sultans proved too good for Islamabad United in a low-scoring affair in Lahore. The table-toppers restricted their vulnerable opponents to a paltry 105/7 in their 20 overs. In a poor outing with the bat, United had only Liam Dawson (22) and Muhammad Musa (26*) inching past the 20-run mark.
Imran Tahir (2/8), Asif Afridi (2/21) and the rest made it a straightforward contest for Sultans, whose skipper Mohammad Rizwan then guided his team through an easy run-chase with his 51 not out off 42 balls for a six-wicket victory. Dawson (3/16) performed impressively for United, but with hardly any runs on the board, the England spinner and his bowling mates were always fighting a lost cause.
Brief scores
Islamabad United 105/7 in 20 overs (Musa 26*; Tahir 2/8) lost to Multan Sultans 111/4 in 17.2 overs (Rizwan 51*; Dawson 3/16) by 6 wickets
