Table-topper Multan routs Quetta for 106 in last league game of PSL

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Leg-spinner Usama Mir and David Willey shared six wickets and routed Quetta Gladiators for 106 as table-topper Multan Sultans completed its regular season with a 79-run win in the Pakistan Super League on Tuesday.

Multan led the points table with seven wins and will take on No. 2 Peshawar Zalmi (12 points) in the qualifier on Thursday with the winner advancing to the final.

It was a wake-up call for revamped Quetta, which will be playing its first PSL playoffs after four years. It will meet Islamabad United in the eliminator on Thursday.

Half-centuries by captain Mohammad Rizwan (69) and Johnson Charles (53) of the West Indies propelled Multan to 185-4 after Quetta won the toss and elected to field.

Quetta’s chase got derailed in the third over when Jason Roy’s run of poor form continued as Willey (3-22) had him trapped leg before wicket and Saud Shakeel (14) got run-out.

Willey then knocked back captain Rilee Rossouw’s leg stump with an impeccable yorker inside the power play and Laurie Evans spooned a dolly catch to mid-wicket.

Mir (3-22), the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, then removed Quetta's top-scorer Omair Yousuf (37) before he quickly ran through the tailenders to give Multan and emphatic victory with more than four overs to spare.

Earlier, Rizwan smashed his fourth half-century and second against Quetta this season and Charles upped the ante in the death overs with his 29-ball knock before Iftikhar Ahmed provided an ideal finish with a quickfire 20 off eight balls.

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