Defending champions Multan Sultans will look for a third win on the trot when they face 2019 winners Quetta Gladiators in the seventh match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 in Karachi on Monday. (More Cricket News)
After the weekend double-headers, PSL 7 will have a single match tonight, but the action will not be light. Both Sultans and Gladiators have some big players in their respective ranks, and they have already hit the ground running. Expect a crunch match.
Sultans started the season with a resounding seven-wicket win against Karachi Kings with skipper Mohammad Rizwan hitting an unbeaten 52 off 47. But he was denied the player of the match award by veteran Imran Tahir (3/16), who helped Sultans restrict Kings for a lowly 124/5.
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Rizwan, ICC's world T20 player of the year in 2021, hit another half-century (69 off 42) in their facile five-wicket win against Lahore Qalandars. But the skipper's effort was overshadowed by his opening partner Shan Masood's 50-ball 83 as Sultans chased down a target of 210.
Sarfaraz Ahmed's Gladiators, who started on a losing note, regrouped well to beat Karachi Kings by eight wickets with Naseem Shah claiming the first five-wicket haul in PSL 2022. After dismissing Babar Azam's Kings for a paltry 113, they chased down the target in 15.5 overs with Ahsan Ali and Will Smeed posting an opening stand of 76.
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In their opening match, Ali (73 off 46) and Smeed (97 off 62) were involved in a stroke-filled, 155-run opening stand as they scored 190/4 against Peshawar Zalmi. But they still ended up losing the match by five wickets.
Sultans currently lead the six-team PSL points table with four points (+0.566 net run rate), while Gladiators are third with two points (+0.820).
Last season, Multans had won five in the league stage for a second-place finish before the play-offs, while Gladiators could manage only two wins in ten outings.
Head-to-head
Quetta Gladiators lead the head-to-head record 4-3 in the previous in their previous seven meetings. Last season, they shared the honours. In 2020, the return leg in Lahore was abandoned due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Match and telecast details
Match: Match 6 of Pakistan Super League 2022, Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans
Date: January 31 (Monday), 2022
Time: 8:00 PM IST/ 7:30 PM local
Venue: National Stadium, Karachi
TV Channels: Sony Sports Network
Live Streaming: SonyLIV
In Pakistan: A Sports, PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Daraz, Tapmad and Cricwick.
Elsewhere...
Willow TV (North America), Flow Sports (Caribbean), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), Sky Sport (New Zealand) and SuperSport (Africa).
Playing XIs in the previous match
Quetta Gladiators (vs Karachi Kings): Ahsan Ali, Will Smeed, Ben Duckett, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, James Faulkner, Naseem Shah, Ashir Qureshi.
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Multan Sultans (vs Lahore Qalandars): Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Imran Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Imran Tahir, Ihsanullah.
Squads
Multan Sultans: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan(c & wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Imran Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Imran Tahir, Ihsanullah, Anwar Ali, Johnson Charles, Rumman Raees, Odean Smith, Rovman Powell, Blessing Muzarabani, Dominic Drakes, Rizwan Hussain, Abbas Afridi, Asif Afridi, Aamer Azmat.
Quetta Gladiators: Ahsan Ali, Will Smeed, Ben Duckett, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Hasnain, James Faulkner, Naseem Shah, Ashir Qureshi, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Jason Roy, James Vince, Shimron Hetmyer, Luke Wood, Daniel Lawrence, Ghulam Mudassar, Ali Imran, Noor Ahmad, Abdul Bangalzai, Khurram Shahzad.
