KARACHI: Power-hitting and sensational bowling took Multan Sultans to a 57-run victory against Peshwar Zalmi, as they won their fifth straight match in Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition.
Hazratullah Zazai started the innings well and scored 42 with the help of five fours and one six. However, after his wicket had fallen, all batters fell in quick intervals.
Ben Cutting was the only other batter to score and keep Zalmi’s run rate from completely collapsing as he hit 52 runs. Imran Tahir and Shahnawaz Dahani were able to take three wickets, while Blessing Muzarabani and Abbas Afridi took a scalp each.
Multan’s innings
After being invited to bat, the Sultans handed a mammoth 223-run target to former champions Peshawar Zalmi.
Sultans’ reached the huge total courtesy of Mohammad Rizwan’s terrific 82 runs, Tim David’s sensational 18-ball fifty, which is the second-fastest half-century in the history of PSL, and three huge sixes in the last over from Khushdil Shah.
Sultans’ were given a rollicking opening start of 85 runs from Shan Masood and Rizwan, which provided the solid foundation for a huge total.
Rizwan counted to carve out runs by holding the one, and then it was Tim David’s batting that stole the show once again. He notched the second-fastest fifty of PSL by hitting six sixes and two fours in a sheer entertaining knock.
The Zalmi bowlers had a terrible outing after they invited Sultans’ to bat first. Skipper Wahab Riaz went to the cleaners as he conceded 55 runs in four overs, England’s Saqib Mahmood conceded 37 in three overs.
Playing XIs:
Multan Sultans: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Johnson Charles, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Anwar Ali, Abbas Afridi, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dahani
Peshawar Zalmi XI: Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Ben Cutting, Wahab Riaz (c), Saqib Mahmood, Mohammad Umar, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad
