HBL Pakistan Super League Record-smashing Usman extinguishes Gladiators' playoff hopes.

RAWALPINDI -- Once Usman Khan got in the groove after a tentative start, there was no stopping him. The 27-year-old Multan Sultans opener plundered the fastest century in the history of the Pakistan Super League history, his exploits helping his side post the highest-ever total ever and ending his former side Quetta Gladiators' hopes of reaching the playoffs.

It was devastating, it was breathtaking. It was pure carnage for Gladiators at the Pindi Stadium on Saturday, their bowlers being whipped to all sides of the ground by Usman, who reached his century off 36 deliveries before eventually getting stumped off a wide delivery after making 120 off 43 balls.

The impetus given to Sultans by Usman, who didn't get a chance to play a single game last season and was only making his first appearance this time around, helped them post 262-3 with captain Mohammad Rizwan making 55 and sharing a 157-run opening stand. There was a time when the Sultans seemed poised for a score in excess of 270 only for the Gladiators to dry up the boundaries in the last few overs for big-hitters Tim David (43 not out) and Kieron Pollard (23 not out).

But it came too late for the Gladiators, who needed a victory to stay in contention for the playoffs till the last round of the league matches on Sunday. Their chase seemed to fizzle early on with big-hitting openers Jason Roy and Martin Guptill departing inside the powerplay only for Omair Yousuf (67), playing for the first time this season like Usama, and Iftikhar Ahmed (53) reviving their hopes with some lusty blows.

The game seemed over after both fell in the space of four deliveries but Umar Akmal and Mohammad Nawaz kept the flame flickering until a hat-trick by Abbas Afridi (5-47) ended the match as a contest with Sultans eventually winning the most high-scoring competitive T20 match of all time by nine runs.

Almost two years ago, Usman had made a sparkling 81 on his PSL debut for the Gladiators. He played six matches that season before slipping away into oblivion. Inserted in place of Shan Masood for the game, with Sultans already through to the playoffs but looking to push into the top two, he made a sensational return.

Brutal off his front foot, he tore into the Gladiators attack and was particularly severe on Qais Ahmed, hitting him for 27 each in his first two overs; launching three sixes and two fours in each of them. The Afghan spinner got the unwanted record of the most expensive figures in the history of the...