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PSL 2023: Usman Khan goes berserk, Quetta crash out

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The Multan Sultans have triumphed in a stunning victory over the Quetta Gladiators, effectively eliminating them from the running for the playoffs in the ongoing Pakistan Super League season eight.

This epic match-up took place in Rawalpindi on Saturday, with Multan securing their spot in the playoffs alongside Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United, and Peshawar Zalmi.

In a toss that had Quetta bowling first, Mohammad Nawaz led the Gladiators in the absence of Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was still recovering from a finger injury.

Despite the absence of Sarfaraz Ahmed, the team still had a chance to qualify for the playoffs.

They needed to win their last league stage match against Multan by a big margin, but Multan’s performance made it clear that it was not going to be their day.

Multan’s opener Usman Khan was the star of the show, scoring the fastest hundred in PSL history in just 36 balls.

Usman was relentless against a weakened Quetta bowling attack, with frontline fast bowlers Nasim Shah and Mohammad Hasnain both sidelined by injuries.

He went on to punish Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmed with six sixes and four boundaries in just two overs, and with a slap shot over the third-man fielder in the ninth over, Usman raised his hundred.

Usman broke teammate Rilee Rossouw’s record of fastest ton in 41 balls, which was set in yesterday’s match between Multan and Peshawar Zalmi.

Rossouw had scored 120 runs in 43 balls with the help of 12 fours and nine sixes.

Meanwhile, the record for the highest total was previously held by Islamabad United — who scored 247-2 against Peshawar in 2021.

Multan’s final score of 262-3 set a new record for the highest total in the history of the PSL tournament.

Quetta’s spinner Qais Ahmed conceded 77 runs in four overs, which is the most expensive bowling in the history of PSL.

This is also jointly the third most expensive bowling in the history of T20 cricket.

Despite losing Jason Roy, Martin Guptill, and Mohammad Hafeez within the powerplay, Quetta challenged the tall target set by Multan.

They were able to put up a good fight, with fifties by Omair Yousuf (67 off 36) and Iftikhar Ahmed (53 off 31).

However, their efforts fell short, and they were unable to secure a win.

Chasing a huge target of 263 runs, Quetta was restricted to 253-8 in 20 overs.

For the winning side, pacer Abbas Afridi bagged figures of 5-47 in four overs, which included a hat-trick.

The 515 runs scored in this game is the highest ever match aggregate in T20 history, a format that has seen over 12,000 matches.

Multan’s victory not only secured their spot in the playoffs, but it also ensured that Peshawar Zalmi booked their spot in the knockout stage.

On the other hand, Quetta and Karachi Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs, just like last year.

Multan Sultans’ playing 11 included Usman Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Rilee Rossouw, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Anwar Ali, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Izharulhaq Naveed, and Ihsanullah.

Quetta Gladiators’ playing 11 included Jason Roy, Martin Guptill, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Hafeez, Iftikhar Ahmed, Umar Akmal (wk), Mohammad Nawaz (c), Qais Ahmad, Umaid Asif, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Aimal Khan.

Multan Sultans 262 for 3 (Usman 120, Rizwan 55, Qais 2-77) beat Quetta Gladiators 253 for 8 (Yousuf 67, Iftikhar 53, Afridi 5-47) by 9 runs

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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