Sultans defeat Zalmi by three runs

KARACHI: The Multan Sultans on Friday defeated the Peshawar Zalmi by 3 runs to win their Pakistan Super League (2020) clash on Friday at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Hammad Azam and Adil Amin were unable to see Peshawar Zalmi to victory even after two no-balls were bowled in the last over and it looked as if Zalmi would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Zalmi were rattled with an early setback when right-handed opener Kamran Akmal, who has been dangerous throughout the tournament, fell cheaply for 2 from 7 balls. He was clean bowled by Mohammad Irfan.

Wahab Riaz tried his hand at batting up the order but the move did not prove beneficial. He was sent to the pavilion after he scored only 3 runs off 7 balls, caught by Moeen Ali off a Sohail Tanvir delivery.

Umar Amin and Imam-ul-Haq put up a solid partnership. The former scored 29 from 23 balls, hitting four 4s while the latter scored 56 from 41 balls, hitting two 6s and four 4s before he was dismissed. His wicket was also picked up by Sohail Tanvir.

Shoaib Malik pitched in with a much-needed 30 runs off 25 balls, hitting two 6s and a four before Shahid Afridi caught him out off an Ali Shafaq delivery.

Haider Ali, who has earned the critics' nod after a string of impressive performances throughout PSL 2020, fell cheaply to Ali Shafaq. He was caught by Moeen Ali, scoring only 1 run off 4 balls.

Earlier, the Multan Sultans handed "The Yellow Storm" 155 runs to win after finishing at 154/6 from their 20 overs. Zeeshan Ashraf was the pick of the batsmen for the Sultans as he scored 52 off 39 balls, hitting seven 4s and a 6 before he was dismissed by Rahat Ali.

Skipper Shan Masood scored 28 off 23 balls, hitting three boundaries before he was dismissed by Hassan Ali, caught by Umar Yamin. Khushdil Shah scored a quickfire 30 off 20 balls, hitting two huge sixes to give some stability to the side after Moeen Ali and Ravi Bopara earlier for 0 and 5 respectively.

Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi was sent to the pavilion after he made 19 runs from 13 balls, hitting a six and a four each. He was caught by Umar Yamin off a Wahab Riaz delivery.

Rahat Ali's performance with the ball stood out as he picked up three important wickets to finish up with figures of 3/24 from his four overs. Mohammad Amir Khan, Hassan Ali and Wahab Riaz each picked up a wicket to restrict the Sultans to 154/6.