LAHORE: Multan Sultans crushed Peshawar Zalmi by 42 runs in the 16th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7, to qualify for the Play-offs.
Set to chase 183, Zalmi’s batting line-up failed completely and could only score 140 in response. Veteran batter – Shoaib Malik fought back with his 44, while the rest of the batters walked back to the pavilion after scoring cheaply.
Zalmi’s returning English explosive batter – Liam Livingstone also resisted a bit, but he too fail short to Abbas Afridi in the sixth over. He scored a quick 24 off 16 balls; including four boundaries and a six.
For the Sultans, Blessing Muzarabani and Khushdil Shah claimed three wickets each, while Shahnawaz Dahani took two. Imran Tahir and Abbas, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.
Batting first, the side started off brilliantly as their openers – Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan provided a solid 98-runs partnership for the second wicket.
The skipper, however, who was struggling to get going, fell short to his Zalmi counterpart – Wahab Riaz in the 13th over. The in-form batter could only score a run-a-ball 34.
Masood, on the other hand, stood firm and kept the scoreboard ticking, the leading run-scorer for the Sultans in the PSL 7 went on to score a magnificent half-century. But, in the 16th over, he too, walked back to the pavilion after miscuing one of Salman Irshad’s delivery. Masood scored 68 off 49 balls; smashing eight boundaries and a six.
Following his departure, the side then kept losing wickets at a regular interval and in the end was restricted to 182-7 in the allotted 20 overs.
Tim David’s quick 34 down the order, however, raced up the proceedings for the Sultans but the lower order collapse in the last two overs prevented the side to amass a massive total. The right-handed batter faced only 18 deliveries and smoked five boundaries, including three sixes.
For the Zalmi, Wahab, Salman, and Saqib Mahmood bagged two wickets each.
