On Tuesday night at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, the Multan Sultans lost to Peshawar Zalmi by four runs in an exciting last-over match. Peshawar Zalmi defeated the table-toppers, countering Iftikhar Ahmed’s undefeated half-century.
Peshawar Zalmi secured a vital win in Rawalpindi to climb up to third place, stopping another winning run of the Sultans that lasted three matches. The captaincy of skipper Babar Azam was spot on as he was seen having interactions with the bowlers and was as cool as ice in a high-scoring encounter.
Pitch report and toss update
There is a quick outfield and a flat track at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Fast bowlers find this to be a challenging spot since the wicket does not help them. On this surface, batsmen can play on the up and score runs with ease.
As the ball holds the surface and turns sharply, spinners receive good rewards from the surface. Peshawar Zalmi chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Openers of the Peshawar Zalmi got the team off to a flier start
Saim Ayub and Babar Azam’s opening partnership of 84 runs provided the team with a strong start. In the third over against Mohammad Ali, they scored 21 runs with the help of three boundaries and a six.
In the following overs, both Zalmi openers smashed boundaries off the bat, taking out Iftikhar, Khushdil, and Jordan while taking full advantage of the field restrictions. The pair’s 71 runs in the first six overs is PSL 9’s greatest powerplay total so far.
When Usama Mir entered the attack in the seventh over, Saim’s bat produced two straight maximums. Usama got his revenge when he trapped Saim (46) leg-before-wicket on the last delivery of the over.
Usama took his second wicket of the innings when Tayyab Tahir caught Tom Kohler-Cadmore (5) at deep midwicket after he remained at the wicket for two quiet overs. At the end of the 10th over, Peshawar Zalmi was on 100/2.
Peshawar Zalmi put up a massive total
During their 51-run third-wicket stand, Haseebullah and Babar batted together in the middle, scoring at least one boundary every over. In the 14th over, Babar reached his 85th half-century in T20, taking 35 deliveries to do so.
After hitting an astounding 64 off 40 balls with seven fours and two sixes, Usama beat Babar in the following over with a ball that crashed into his stumps.
Then, with 166 on the board, Jordan rocked Haseebullah’s stumps on the 3rd delivery of the 17th over, falling for Zalmi’s fourth wicket.
Zalmi scored 204-5 through contributions from batsmen Rovman Powell (23*) and Aamer Jamal (12). Usama, who has taken the most wickets in PSL 9, added three more to his total of 18 wickets, while Jordan took two wickets.
Peshawar Zalmi strangled the run flow of the Sultans by taking wickets at intervals
Once again, Saim opened the bowling for Zalmi, but Mohammad Rizwan showed his intent right away, taking him for a boundary and a six.
Making his PSL debut, Mehran Mumtaz removed Reeza Hendricks for a mere 10-ball five-run innings in the fifth over, and in doing so, he claimed his first wicket and ended the 35-run opening partnership.
Sultan amassed 40 runs at the end of the powerplay for the cost of just one wicket. Jamal grabbed the ball at mid-on at the start of the eighth over and went after the non-striker’s end to run out Rizwan (32).
In the following over, Salman Irshad dropped Tayyab at short third to deprive Mehran of his second wicket, and he finished his four-over performance with a wicket for 20 runs. In the next over, Tayyab struck Salman two fours to make things tougher.
Iftikhar Ahmed’s half-century went in vain
In his 12th over of bowling, Aamir took two wickets to put more pressure on the Sultans. Saim removed Tayyab at deep square, and Asif made a spectacular catch at deep backward square to dismiss Dawid Malan.
In the 16th over, Khushdil got caught behind by Naveen, putting Jordan in the middle. Multan Sultans fell only four runs short of their target courtesy of an unbeaten sixth wicket partnership of 75 runs from just 28 deliveries from Jordan and Iftikhar.
After reaching his half-century in the last over, Iftikhar finished with an undefeated 60 off 27 balls, riding four boundaries and five maximums. Jordan, his partner, hit an undefeated 20 on 12 off three fours and two sixes.
Aamir got rid of two batsmen, while Mehran and Naveen each claimed a wicket.
