Multan Sultans 167 for 4 (Smith 53, Masood 46*, Farhan 32, Hasan Nawaz 2-17) beat Quetta Gladiators 166 for 7 (Shakeel 56, Jacobs 49*, Mohammad Nawaz 3-30, Minhas 2-14) by six wickets
Steven Smith's maiden PSL half-century and tight spells from the spinners orchestrated a comfortable six-wicket win for Multan Sultans over Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday night.
That the target of 167 would be a cakewalk for Sultans had become obvious at the start of the chase. Smith and Sahibzada Farhan gave them a rollicking beginning, bludgeoning 63 runs in the first four overs, the 50-run stand coming up in just 3.2 overs.
Sultans ended the powerplay with 83 for 1, equalling their own record for the most runs in the first six overs this edition, made against Hyderabad Kingsmen.
Sultans dominated the first innings because of their spinners and Saud Shakeel, taking a leaf from Ashton Turner's book, bowled spin in tandem after the field restrictions were lifted. But Smith's onslaught left exactly 84 to be chased in 84 balls by then and Sultans from that point resorted to nudging the ball around the park for ones and twos with occasional boundaries in between.
Shan Masood played a steady hand in the middle order and controlled the proceedings with a 36-ball 40 not out. His composure at the crease ensured there were no dramas after a brilliant relay catch at the square-leg boundary between Saqib Khan - who was on for injured Ahmed Daniyal - and Rilee Rossouw sent Smith back.
This was a wicket where 184 and 198 were chased in a day on Thursday and Sultans' introduction of spin from both ends raised eyebrows. They would go on to bowl 16 overs of spin on what proved to be a belter, but they seemed to have done their homework about Gladiators' susceptibility against turn.
Turner's decision to start with spin paid dividends right away as Khawaja Nafay and Shamyl Hussain were dismissed inside 2.1 overs. But those wickets brought two of the best players of spin in Gladiators' side - Shakeel and Hasan Nawaz - together and they staged a remarkable recovery with a 55-run stand. They were uncoupled until the splendid glovework by Josh Phillippe, who stumped Hasan Nawaz as Arafat Minhas - pick of the bowlers with two for 14 in four overs - beat him in the air. The left-arm spinner compounded Gladiators' woes by removing Rossouw in the same over, leaving little hope for the batting side of crossing the 150-run mark despite Shakeel holding his end up with 56 from 41.
But Bevon Jacobs' rearguard 49 not out off 31 and Daniyal's scorching cameo of 22 off nine, which had to be curtailed as he had to be rushed to the hospital after he seemed to have done his hamstring running the third run on the penultimate ball of the innings, made it happen.
Despite Faisal Akram, who gave 31 in three overs, having an off day, the 16 spin overs allowed only 91 runs and accounted for all six wickets with Mohammad Nawaz picking up three of them. The win - their third in four matches - put Sultans back at the top of the points table.
