Kieron Pollard, Sheldon Cottrell Canters Multan Sultans To Final
Kieron Pollard scored a half-century (Source: Twitter/@thePSLt20)
Multan Sultans obliterated Lahore Qalandars in the first qualifier of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the former moved to the final on the back of an 84-run victory.
Pollard's fifty ravages Lahore
After opting to bat first, Multan Sultans batted sedately as their openers Usman Khan and Mohammad Rizwan led a fifty-run stand. However, with the run-rate lurching low, batters went for the hits only to find themselves getting dismissed.
At the time Sultans were in pickle, Kieron Pollard brought his Caribbean swagger out as his 34-ball 57 minimised the side's trouble.
While Pollard fired on all cylinders, Tim David contributed 22 off 15 deliveries from the other end as their 65-run partnership helped Multan set a total of 160 runs in 20 overs.
A night full of Cottrell's trademark celebrations
Apart from Pollard, another West Indian enjoyed success. Sheldon Cottrell's three-for squeezed Lahore Qalandars to bits as the latter recorded its lowest score of the season.
For Qalandars, only three batters, Sam Billings, David Wiese and Haris Rauf, could touch double digits.
Although Lahore lost the match by 84 runs as they got bundled out for 76, they still have a chance to make the final as they face the winner of Eliminator 1 in a knock-out clash on Friday.
Brief scores:
Multan Sultans - 160/5 (20)
Kieron Pollard 57 (34), Mohammad Rizwan 33 (29);
Haris Rauf 3-34 (4), Rashid Khan 1-18 (4)
Lahore Qalandars - 76/10 (14.3)
Sam Billings 19 (27), Haris Rauf 15 (13);
Sheldon Cottrell 3-20 (3), Usama Mir 2-12 (2)
Multan Sultans won by 84 runs
 "Aayush Mahajan")
