Defending champions Multan Sultans breezed into in the final of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after knocking out Lahore Qalandars by 28 runs in the play offs here at Gaddafi Stadium Wednesday night.
Chasing a modest score of 164 runs, the Qalandars managed 135 for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted.
Sultans win owed to their bowlers who shattered the batting line-up of the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led side.
In pursuit of the desired target, Lahore Qalandars’ first wicket fell when Abdullah Shafiq’s total score of 17 was LBW on the ball of Asif Afridi. Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Hafeez were also dismissed for 20 and 0 respectively.
In-form batsman Fakhr Zaman batted brilliantly and scored his seventh half century in the tournament. The left-handed batsman hit four sixes in the twelfth and thirteenth overs of the innings and tried to turn the tide of the match, but he was dismissed for 63 off 45 balls with four sixes and two fours in the 15th over. He shared a 54-run stand with Harry Brook for the fourth wicket. Harry Brook was dismissed for 13 runs.
Newcomers Better Samat Patel (11) and Phil Salt and Shaheen Afridi were all out for one run each.
Lahore Qalandars needed 38 runs in the last 2 overs to win but Roman Raees took one wicket for just two runs in the 19th over to further strengthen Multan Sultans’ grip in the match. Lahore Qalandars lost 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. He scored 135 runs.
Shahnawaz Dhani got three wickets while David Valle got two wickets. Roman Raees, Asif Afridi and Khushdal Shah took one wicket each.
Earlier, Lahore Qalandars won the toss and elected to field first. In the second over of the innings, Mohammad Hafeez dismissed the form opener Shaun Masood for an individual score of 2. Aamir Azmat, who came on the field at the third position, did put up some resistance but he too got out on an individual score of 33 thanks to 5 fours and returned to the pavilion.
After losing two wickets for a total of 50, Multan Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan took the crease along with veteran batsman Riley Russo and tried to take the game to the last over by batting responsibly. Both players put on an unbeaten 113 off 79 balls for the third wicket to take the team’s total to over 160. Riley Russo remained unbeaten on 65 with the help of a six and seven fours. Mohammad Rizwan played an unbeaten innings of 53 runs off 51 balls with three fours.
Muhammad Hafeez and Samat Patel took one wicket each.
Lahore Qalandars Vs Multan Sultans Play Offs Match Highlights
Playing XIs:
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c, wk), Shan Masood, Aamer Azmat, Rilee Rossouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Asif Afridi, Rumman Raees, Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani.
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam Mohammad Hafeez, Phil Salt (wk), Harry Brook, David Wiese, Samit Patel, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.
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