Rawalpindiz were consigned to their eighth straight loss of the season as Multan Sultans cruised to 167 in 18.4 overs, with Australians Steve Smith and Ashton Turner providing the star turn. The Sultans consolidated their place at second on the points table with the facile win.
Smith looked in sublime touch and turned the game on its head in the ninth over by hitting Razaullah for a boundary followed by three maximums. That meant Sultans had already launched themselves to 89/1 by the halfway stage. Rawalpindiz fought back by dismissing both Smith and Josh Philippe in quick succession but with no scoreboard pressure to work with, they were unable to stop the opposition in their tracks. Turner shepherded the rest of the chase with an unbeaten 37 off 21.
Earlier, opting to bat first, Rawalpindiz were reduced to an alarming 6/2 and endured a slow start having managed just 33 runs off the PowerPlay. A 63-run stand between Daryl Mitchell and captain Mohammad Rizwan revived their innings but the latter struggled for pick up the pace and was dismissed for a scratchy 26 off 29 balls. Mitchell carried on and shared a 52-run stand with Sam Billings before Dian Forrester delivered the finishing kick with a 15-ball 37. Mitchell remained unbeaten on 58 as the Rawalpindiz finished with 166/4. It was, however, not enough against the favourites.
Brief Scores: Rawalpindiz 166/4 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 58*, Dian Forrester 37*; Mohammad Imran Randhawa 1-9) lost to Multan Sultans 167/4 in 18.4 overs (Steve Smith 56, Ashton Turner 37*; Asif Afridi 2-28) by six wickets.