KARACHI: Multan Sultans maintained their perfect record in the seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League as they beat Peshawar Zalmi by 57 runs here at the National Stadium on Saturday.

Zalmi managed to score 165-8 in 20 overs as they failed to even get close to the mammoth 224-run target set by the defending champions, thanks to Mohammad Rizwan’s 82 off 53 (eight fours and a six) and Tim David’s late onslaught.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir (3-25) and pacer Shahnawaz Dahani (3-41) were the pick of the bowlers for Multan, who won their fourth match in a row. Any chances of winning went out of Zalmi’s reach after the tenth over, which saw Shoaib Malik dismissed off Tahir with the Peshawar outfit needing 139 as the asking run-rate rose.

Zalmi suffered another setback when Tahir got Sherfane Rutherford and Hazratullah Zazai, who scored 43 off 32, in consecutive deliveries, before Abbas Afridi cleaned up Wahab Riaz and Dahani dismissed Usman Qadir.

Ben Cutting’s 52 off 31 (three fours and five sixes) did nothing but help minimise the deficit for Zalmi.

Zazai’s 24-run opening partnership with Kamran Akmal and 31 runs for the second wicket with Haider Ali looked like making a difference for them but the latter’s departure followed by Malik’s dismissal changed everything for the 2017 champions.

Multan had got off to a flying start when Shan Masood smashed Mohammad Umar for two fours in the first over and another in the third.

Earlier, it was all about Rizwan from the point he drove Saqib Mahmood straight down the ground for his first boundary before cutting the Englishman for another.

Rizwan smashed four more boundaries in the next two overs as Multan posted 61-0 in the powerplay before Malik and Mohammad Umar conceded a total of only 13 runs in the next two overs.

After two more quiet overs, Rizwan hit another maximum off Usman Qadir, before Sohaib Maqsood (25 off 17) departed in the 14th over after some fireworks. But it was the onslaught that followed which changed the complexion of the game, and Tim David (51* off 19), who came on to bat after Maqsood’s departure, started it with a huge six over deep midwicket off Qadir before smashing the leg-spinner for a four.

After Rizwan’s dismissal, Khushdil Shah came to bat. He hit three consecutive sixes off Wahab in the last over in his scintillating cameo of 21 off seven.

Scoreboard

MULTAN SULTANS:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B

Shan Masood c Rutherford b Malik 35 25

M. Rizwan c Mahmood b Salman 82 53

Sohaib Maqsood b Qadir 25 17

Tim David not out 51 19

Khushdil Shah not out 21 7

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-2, NB-1) 8

TOTAL (for three wickets, 20 overs) 222

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-85 (Shan), 2-127 (Maqsood), 3-196 (Rizwan).

DID NOT BAT: Johnson Charles, Anwar Ali, Abbas Afridi, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dahani.

BOWLING: Mohammad Umar 4-0-36-0, Saqib Mahmood 3-0-37-0 (1w), Salman Irshad 4-0-38-1, Wahab Riaz 4-0-55-0 (1w), Shoaib Malik 2-0-17-1, Usman Qadir 3-0-34-1 (1nb).

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B

Hazratullah Zazai c Maqsood b Tahir 43 32

Kamran Akmal c Khushdil b Dahani 10 7

Haider Ali c Rizwan b Dahani 24 12

Shoaib Malik c David b Tahir 11 14

Rutherford c Muzarabani b Tahir 2 4

Ben Cutting not out 52 31

Wahab Riaz b Afridi 2 3

Usman Qadir c Rizwan b Dahani 12 10

M. Umar c Rizwan b Muzarabani 3 8

Saqib Mahmood not out 0 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4, NB-1) 6

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs) 165

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24 (Kamran), 2-55 (Haider), 3-84 (Malik), 4-93 (Rutherford), 5-93 (Zazai), 6-97 (Wahab), 7-119 (Qadir), 8-158 (Umar).

DID NOT BAT: Salman Irshad.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 3-0-36-0 (1w), Blessing Muzarabani 4-0-34-1 (2w), Shahnawaz Dahani 4-0-41-3 (1nb, 1w), Abbas Afridi 3-0-20-1, Imran Tahir 4-0-25-3, Khushdil Shah 2-0-8-0.

RESULT: Multan Sultans won by 57 runs.

UMPIRES: Shozab Raza (Pakistan) and Richard Illingworth (England)

TV UMPIRE: Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Ali Naqvi (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Rizwan (Multan Sultans).

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2022