Hyderabad knock out Multan Sultans in a one-sided affair at Gaddafi Stadium

Including this season, Multan have made it to the playoffs six times. Out of those instances, they reached the final four times. That makes this year only the second instance of Multan crashing out of the playoffs without ending as finalists. 

Multan lost the plot

It would be unfair to deny Hyderabad Kingsmen any credit, especially after the way they backflipped their entire campaign. But it would be equally unfair to take the focus away from Multan’s own shortcomings.

Multan managed to scamper to a 160-run total, which was way below par at Gaddafi Stadium. For context, the last six games played at the venue saw teams go past 180 in both innings. Barring Shan Masood, who scored 69 off 46, no other batter could get past even 20 runs. Hyderabad’s pacers, in particular, enjoyed a good time in the middle as they shared six wickets between them.

Hyderabad exploit Lahore surface

It is said that one should not judge the surface unless both teams have batted on it. But Hyderabad’s innings only cemented the notion that Gaddafi Stadium was nothing less than a belter. It took them 15.2 overs to gun down the target, with Maaz Sadaqat and Usman Khan scoring 65 each off 33 and 35 balls, respectively.

The two batters that Multan dismissed were Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khan. Usman’s dismissal came off Steve Smith’s delivery, but that had more to do with the shot played by the batter. Marnus, however, was brilliantly caught by Sahibzada Farhan at cover point.

Hyderabad now have one step left between them and the final, and that is to face Islamabad United. The Eliminator 2 game will be played on May 1 at the same venue.

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