Quetta Gladiators continued their blazing start to PSL 2019 as they stormed to their third straight win, defeating Multan Sultans by eight wickets in Sharjah on Wednesday.

Chasing 161 for victory, Quetta opener Shane Watson got his second straight fifty of the season (61 off 40 balls) while Rilee Rossouw finished the game off with 67 from 45 balls as the table toppers reached home in 18.3 overs.

Quetta restricted Multan to 160-9 with leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed giving away just 22 runs in his four overs. Shoaib Malik played a captain’s knock for Multan, hitting 53 from 37 balls to add some impetus to the innings as no other batsman made more than 30 against a disciplined Quetta attack.

Leg-spinner Fawad (1-22) and left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir (1-29) produced yet another efficient effort with the ball to tie the Multan batsmen down on a true Sharjah pitch.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed proved his mastery in the T20 format once again, taking a close lbw DRS call against the dangerous looking opener James Vince (28 off 17 balls) and getting vindicated.

A crucial moment of the match came late in the first innings when dangerman Shahid Afridi was out for a golden duck, lbw against Mohammad Irfan, as Multan were reduced to 144-6 in the 18th over.

In the chase, Quetta’s Australian opener Watson was in vintage form once against as he cracked his second successive fifty, defying the struggles of most batsmen against the challenging pitches and quality bowling of the league.

Watson did the bulk of the scoring as he raced to a half-century, with Rilee Rossouw doing well to just give him company.

Once Watson departed for 61, Rossouw took over and upped the scoring rate. His unbeaten 67 ensured there were no more hiccups.

BRIEF SCORES

Multan Sultans: 160-9

Shoaib Malik: 53

Fawad Ahmed: 1-22

Quetta Gladiators: 161-2 in 18.3 overs

Shane Watson: 61

Rilee Rossouw: 67*