Smith, Sahibzada Farhan help Multan return to winning ways

Openers Steven Smith and Sahibzada Farhan set up Multan Sultans' easy win over Quetta Gladiators on Sunday (April 5) in Lahore. Chasing a modest target of 167, Sultans got home with 15 balls to spare after the two openers added 71 runs from the first five overs. While the Gladiators have lost three of their last four games, the Sultans have won three of their last four. Khawaja Nafay opened the batting this time and nailed the slog sweep in the very first over against the opposition captain Ashton Turner, before getting trapped lbw in the following over. With Shamyl Hussain also failing to make an impact, Gladiators were pushed on the backfoot very early. Hasan Nawaz then hit a couple of boundaries to break the shackles and Saud Shakeel took on veteran Peter Siddle to revive the Powerplay for Gladiators. Shakeel continued to bat well, leading from the front and scoring runs frequently, but Sultans kept their hold on the game after Arafat Minhas struck twice in one over. Gladiators had a lot to do at the halfway point, with only 73 runs on the scoreboard. Before Ben Jacobs exploded against Faisal Akram to inject some much-needed momentum, the next three overs saw no boundaries conceded. Shakeel departed after scoring fifty, but Jacobs and Ahmed Daniyal hit boundaries in the death overs to lead the charge. Their exploits ensured 43 runs were scored in the final three overs. Any momentum that the Gladiators built towards the end of the innings quickly evaporated when Smith and Farhan came out all guns blazing. Smith started the chase with two fours and a six in the first over of Alzarri Joseph's innings, while Farhan treated Abrar Ahmed similarly. The Australian veteran then hit Tom Curran with four consecutive boundaries before Farhan went after Abrar once more. As a result, 63 runs were wiped out in just the first four overs, pretty much signalling the end for the bowling side. While Joseph eventually broke the partnership and Shakeel saw the back of Josh Philippe, Sultans were coasting at 106/2 at the halfway mark. At that point, the Gladiators needed a miracle which never arrived. While Shan Masood made merry at the other end, Smith capitalized to score his first half-century of the tournament. Hasan Nawaz struck late to pick up a couple of wickets but it hardly mattered as Masood remained unbeaten until the end to guide Sultans home. They can play again in less than 24 hours with a short turnaround.