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Watson, Rossouw ace the chase for Gladiators

The Gladiators continued their perfect start to be unbeaten in three matches.

Like the 'Galacticos' Real Madrid in the La Liga, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has its very own in the Quetta Gladiators. Their line-up is the envy of many and it came to the fore yet again.
As the bandwagon shifted to the storied Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the Gladiators hardly broke into a sweat on a chilly Wednesday night, coasting to an eight-wicket win against Multan Sultans.
Multan Sultans had set the marker at 160 following captain Shoaib Malik's half-century but that proved not enough as Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw aced the chase with sublime half-centuries.
Southpaw Rilee Rossouw top scored with an unbeaten 67 from 45 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and a six to bring them home.
The Gladiators continued their perfect start to be unbeaten in three matches.
Meanwhile, Watson's opening act of 61 from 40 deliveries with 11 boundaries put him on top of the batting chart with 161 runs following his second half-century in this edition.
Malik is close behind with 136, with Wednesday night's 53 from 37 balls with the aid of four boundaries and two sixes being his top score.
Watson and Rossouw also put on 56 runs for the second wicket after which Rossouw shared an unbroken 66-run stand with Umar Akmal for the third wicket.
Earlier, the Multan Sultans' total of 160 for nine was down to Malik's half-century after his side were invited by Sarfraz Ahmed to have the first go on the surface.
They could've ended up with much more if not for a flurry of wickets towards the fag end of their innings.
After Malik left in trying to accelerate after reaching his 50, Dan Christian, Shahid Afridi and Andre Russell too returned to the dug out.
Although Afridi, who strode to a roar from the Sharjah crowd, failed to sparkle, Russell did provide a cameo with a 12-ball 18 with three boundaries.
Earlier, openers Shan Masood and James Vince had given them a decent start with a stand of 34.
Englishman Vince, formerly with the Karachi Kings, stepped on the gas from the get go but couldn't translate that into a big one, making 28 from 17 deliveries with six boundaries.
Masood was the next to go, dancing down the track one too many times to Australian leg spinner Fawad Ahmed, to be stumped by Sarfraz Ahmed.
Then an embarrassing mix up between Malik and Laurie Evans, with both running to the same end without any eye contact, saw the latter being run out.
But Malik and Christian put the Sultans back on track with a 73-run alliance for the fourth wicket.
Mohammed Irfan Jr and emerging player Ghulam Mudassar picked up two wickets apiece.
Brief scores:
Multan Sultans: 160-9 in 20 overs Shoaib Malik 53, James Vince 28, Shan Masood 18, Laurie Evans 10, Dan Christian 18, Andre Russell 18, Mohammed Irfan Jr 2-32, Ghulam Mudassar 2-44) lost to Quetta Gladiators: 162-2 in 18.3 overs (Rilee Rossouw 67 not out, Shane Watson 61) by 8 wickets.
- james@khaleejtimes.com