Istafa Ali
The top-seeded Multan Sultans defeated the reigning Lahore Qalandars by 60 runs on Tuesday, the sixth time in the team’s nine-match Pakistan Super League (PSL) history that the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led team has lost.
After scoring 214 runs at the expense of four wickets, Multan held Shaheen’s team to 154 runs to win by 60 runs.
Usama Mir, who picked 6/40 in his four-over session, was Multan’s standout player with the ball. Historically, his numbers rank fourth in the competition.
PSL 9 Sultans triumph as Qalandars continue their dismal run.
Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan looked solid in their partnership for the first wicket while chasing, amassing 54 runs, but after their dismissals, neither player made any significant contributions.
After scoring 23 runs off of 16 deliveries, Fakhar was bowled by Aftab Ibrahim with a blistering yorker.
After putting on a strong batting display, Farhan (31) was eventually bowled out by Khushdil Shah.
Rassie van der Dussen attempted to steadie the batting but received no assistance despite the early wickets adding to the pressure.
Similar to Kamran Ghulam, Sikandar Raza also lost to Faisal Akram, scoring 12 (off 9 balls) and 17 (off 7 balls), respectively.
Only nine runs could be added to the total by captain Shaheen Afridi before Usman Khan stumped him off a ball from Usama Mir. The middle order fell apart, and the squad was bowled out for 154 runs in 17 overs, even with a late burst from Carlos Brathwaite, who finished undefeated with 14 runs off 7 balls.
Usman Khan had earlier amassed a whopping 214-4 against Lahore with a dominant innings of 96 runs.
Multan elected to bat first in their away PSL 9 opener. But in the first over, Lahore’s captain Shaheen Afridi got rid of the opposition skipper, Mohammad Rizwan, giving them an early advantage.
Nevertheless, the Sultans quickly recovered because to a standout 70-run combination between Usman Khan and Reeza Hendricks, which was eventually dismissed by Sikandar Raza.
Hendricks made 40 off 27 balls, hitting seven boundaries, one of which was a six.
Khan kept up his aggressive style of play and teamed up with Tayyab Tahir to build a formidable partnership. Together, they scored 77 runs in just 40 balls for the third wicket.
After only 21 runs in 15 overs, Tahir was removed by Carlos Brathwaite with the scoreboard showing 151.
After joining Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed unleashed a devastating 40 runs from 18 balls, including two boundaries and three sixes, in an undefeated cameo.
However, Khan was dismissed in the last over after scoring 96 runs off 55 balls and hitting 13 boundaries, including two sixes. He was just short of a century.
After 20 overs, the Multan Sultans were 214-4 at the end of their innings.
Afridi led the Lahore Qalandars’ bowling assault with figures of 2-39, while Brathwaite and Raza each took one wicket.
