Shahzad, Shakeel and Allen lead Gladiators' demolition of Sultans

Quetta Gladiators pushed Multan Sultans to the brink of elimination after running away to a record-breaking 10-wicket victory in Lahore. After bowling the Sultans out for 89, the Gladiators took just 6.5 overs to gun it down, with openers Finn Allen and Saud Shakeel making it - by 3.1 overs - the largest margin of victory by balls remaining in PSL history. The last 82 runs of the chase came off just 29 balls, leaving Multan nursing their sixth defeat in seven matches as well as a net run rate of -2.355. With this result, the 2021 champions' fate looks all but sealed.

Mohammad Rizwan carried his bat, but he wasn't really going anywhere with it for all the carnage happening at the other end. Khurram Shahzad ripped through the top order, taking four new-ball wickets in his first 11 balls, leaving the Sultans reeling at 20 for 4. He made full use of the early swing, combining it with consistent high-pace bowling. The full delivery got rid of Yasir Khan and Curtis Campher, who saw the ball nip back into him sharply to leave him plumb in front. In between, Usman Khan holed out playing a low-percentage heave, while Kamran Ghulam was squared up by an away-swinger that he nicked to slip.

There would be no real recovery as the other Gladiators bowlers carried on the momentum. Faheem Ashraf punctured the middle order with the quickfire wickets of Iftikhar Ahmed and Michael Bracewell. Mohammad Wasim picked up the final two as, to add insult to injury, Sultans' clouded thinking contributed to self-inflicted damage. Rizwan, in an attempt to farm the strike, ended up running out both Mohammad Hasnain and Usama Mir - the latter the only Sultans player other than Rizwan to reach double figures.

Rizwan had said the Sultans would have bowled first too because they weren't sure how the pitch would play, but Shakeel and Allen seemed to have no qualms about batting on it. A touch of caution in the first couple of overs gave way to the realistion that the surface - or indeed the Sultans bowlers - posed no threat. Allen smashed David Willey for two sixes and a four in the third over and Shakeel, too, upped the ante, hitting a four and a six off Hasnain as Gladiators extracted 13 from the fourth over.

Rizwan turned swiftly to Ubaid Shah, and though the teenager has enjoyed an excellent PSL, there was to be no rescue act from him today. Shakeel stepped across and ramped him over fine leg for six, using the bowler's pace, before anticipating the shorter delivery, which he carved over the slips for four. The over was signed off with a pull over square leg that also flew all the way as the Sultans headed for an embarrassing defeat.

There was no stopping the carnage, with Hasnain smashed for 19 in the powerplay's final over which got the Gladiators to within 16 runs of the target. Unsurprisingly, they needed just five post-Powerplay balls to put an end to the Sultans' misery, a straight six by Allen over Usama Mir's head an appropriate ending to the match, leaving Rizwan's side down and nearly out with little likelihood of a resurrection.