Multan Sultans won the third successive match in the PSL 9 on Wednesday night at Multan Cricket Stadium due to a quick cameo by Iftikhar Ahmed and a gallant half-century by captain Muhammad Rizwan. Lahore Qalandars, the tournament’s defending champions, suffered their third consecutive defeat as the Multan Sultans executed the most successful chase in PSL history on their home ground.
Pitch report and toss update
The pitch at the Multan International Cricket Stadium is conducive to high-scoring encounters, favoring batsmen in the initial overs due to its hard and flat surface. However, as the game progresses, both fast bowlers and spinners can expect some assistance, so Lahore Qalandars won the toss and opted to bat first.
Fakhar Zaman and Rassie Van der Dussen stitched a partnership for the Qalandars after an early wicket
After electing to bat first, Qalandars suffered from an early blow when Mohammad Ali bowled him in the second over. Sahibzada Farhan, the opening batsman, slashed at a back-of-length delivery that produced a sharp edge and was securely caught at second slip by Iftikhar.
Following the Multan Sultans’ strong start, Fakhar Zaman and Rassie van der Dussen took it upon themselves to take the team out of trouble. They launched attacks on Ali, Willey, and Shahnawaz Dahani to raise the bar and end the powerplay with a 49-1 score.
In the powerplay, Fakhar looked to be in his element, busting two boundaries and as many sixes. After smashing Abbas Afridi for a boundary that went toward midwicket in the 12th over, Van van Dussen reached his second PSL fifty from 34 balls.
Before Usama Mir struck to remove Van der Dussen with a fantastic ball that pitched outside off and grabbed the edge to end up in Rizwan’s hands, the two put on a strong second-wicket stand of 94 runs off 66 balls.
Cameos from the lower order batsmen reached the Lahore Qalandars to a competitive score
Sikandar Raza joined Fakhar in the middle and got going early, smashing Iftikhar for two boundaries in the 14th over. After top-edging a ball off Abbas’ bowling to Rizwan, Fakhar departed from the game after an over, leaving Lahore at 114-3.
Sikandar attempted to keep up the run flow, but in the 17th over, while attempting to clear the long-on boundary, he too fell victim to Ali. Jahandad Khan was run out after failing to make his ground at the non-striker’s end, despite scoring 16 runs in his nine balls at the crease, including one stunning six.
With a cameo, Carlos Brathwaite helped the Qalandars rally past their opposition to score 166-5 in the 20 overs given. Multan Sultans’ bowler Ali took two wickets, bringing his total of PSL 9 scalps to eight, while Abbas and Usama dismissed one each.
Multan Sultans were in trouble after a few early blows
The Multan Sultans ran into problems early on in their pursuit of the 167-run chase. Shaheen Shah Afridi began with a maiden over, and in the next over, Zaman Khan bowled an excellent yorker to take out the scalp of Dawid Malan for a golden duck.
Multan was reduced to 15-2 in 2.5 overs when Shaheen came back to dismiss the dangerous Reeza Hendricks, who punched out to Fakhar Zaman in extra cover. Yasir Khan and Mohammad Rizwan combined for 38 runs for the third wicket to give the Multan innings some sort of uniformity.
On the final ball of the eighth over, George Linde struck to remove Yasir, who was caught trying to hit down the ground. David Willey joined the skipper, and both pushed the score of the Multan Sultans to 72/3 at the halfway mark.
Iftikhar finished the game for the Multan Sultans after Rizwan’s brilliant innings
After coming out to bat at number five, David Willey and Rizwan formed an important partnership, scoring 75 runs off of just 51 balls. While keeping the innings together, the Multan Sultans captain took command against both pacers and spinners.
With the required run rate starting to creep up, Zaman gave his team the much-needed breakthrough when he removed Rizwan, courtesy of a superb catch made by Linde at deep midwicket, bringing the scoreboard to 128-4.
Before Shaheen trapped Willey leg-before-wicket in the 18th over, Iftikhar and Willey both hit a boundary and a six. Iftikhar went on a rampage in the 19th over, hitting Zaman left, right, and center for five straight bursting blows that included three boundaries and two massive sixes, with 21 runs needed off the final two overs.
Iftikhar amassed an undefeated 34 off 11 balls at the end of the game, with one over remaining. Linde got one wicket, and Shaheen and Zaman both claimed two for Lahore.
