Rizwan, Sohaib help Multan record first win

KARACHI: Mohamamd Rizwan and Sohaib Maqsood hit fine fifties while Carlos Brathwaite and Shahnawaz Dhani did well with the ball as Multan Sultans recorded their first win when they downed Lahore Qalandars by seven wickets in their third round fixture of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 here at National Stadium on Friday.

Set to score 158, Rizwan (76) and Sohaib (61*) shared 110 runs off 67 balls for the third wicket stand as Multan achieved the target with 22 balls to spare after losing three wickets. This is also a record third wicket stand of Multan Sultans in the PSL history.

Earlier, Carlos Brathwaite (2-20) and Shahnawaz Dhani (2-39) did well to restrict Lahore to 157-6. After losing two early wickets, Rizwan and Sohaib batted with perfection, managing some superb shots to pull off a well-crafted win.

Rizwan, dropped on 55, reached his fifty off 27 balls, his second fifty of the event and third of his PSL career. This is also Rizwan’s highest total in PSL.

He hammered 12 fours in his 49-ball knock before being removed by Shaheen Afridi, held by Haris Rauf in the deep after he had brought his side very close to win.

Sohaib, who survived on 29, reached his fifty off 34 balls. He hit two sixes and seven fours in his 41-ball unbeaten feat. This was the first fifty from Sohaib in this event and third overall in his PSL career.

Multan received an early blow when Shaheen Afridi in the first over of the innings clean bowled Chris Lynn (0) who once again failed to click. The Australian batsman has scored just two runs in three innings in this event so far.

Samit Patel soon afterwards removed James Vince (5) to leave Multan at 30-2 in the fourth over.

Shaheen Afridi was the pick of the bowlers with 2-29 in his quota of four overs. Samit Patel got 1-26 in three overs.

Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez (60) struck his second successive fifty of the event and eighth of his PSL career to enable Lahore Qalandars to pile up 157-6 after being invited to bat in hot conditions.

Hafeez hammered five sixes and three fours in his 35-ball knock. Hafeez got run out when Samit Patel sent him back after the English all-rounder had played a ball of Usman Qadir towards cover. Carlos picked it up and threw it to Usman who broke the stumps, with Hafeez finding himself short of his crease. Hafeez’s fifty came off 27 balls.

Hafeez added 89 off 55 balls for the third wicket stand with English batsman Joe Denly who hit 29-ball 31. Denly smacked two sixes off Usman Qadir and two fours before being removed by Carlos Brathwaite when the right-hander edged him to keeper Rizwan.

Carlos provided an early breakthrough to Multan when he had Sohail Akhtar (7) caught at short mid-wicket by Usman Qadir off the first ball of his spell.

Sohail, who is yet to play a major knock in the event, faced 12 balls and hit one four.

In the next over, Shanawaz Dhani removed Fakhar Zaman with a splendid delivery that took a thin edge off the left-hander’s blade with Rizwan holding an easy catch behind the stumps.

Fakhar hit 11-ball nine with one four and Lahore were reeling at 17-2 in the fifth over.

Ben Dunk’s (1) poor run with the bat in the event continued when he fell cheaply to Usman Qadir.

David Wiese (13) tried to make some quick runs before being removed by Dhani, held in the deep by Carlos after he had struck one six and one four from eight balls.

Samit Patel, who was dropped near the end, remained not out on 26 for which he faced 20 balls, striking two fours and one six.

Sohail Khan (0-24 in 4) bowled well. His effort included an economical last over.

Lahore scored just 25 runs in power-play. Their fifty came in 8.4 overs, 100 in 12.5 overs and 150 in 18.6 overs. In the last five overs Lahore scored just 45.

Rizwan was adjudged the man of the match.

This was the first loss for Lahore in three games.

Lahore brought in Joe Denly and Salman Mirza in place of Afghanistan’s leggi Rashid Khan, who has left for joining national duty, and Agha Salman.

Multan made one change in the squad which lost the last game against Zalmi by bringing in Sohail Khan in place of Sohail Tanvir.

Ahsan Raza and Faisal Afridi supervised the match.

Score Board

Multan Sultans won toss

Lahore Qalandars

Fakhar c † Rizwan b Shahnawaz Dhani 9

Sohail Akhtar c Usman Qadir b Brathwaite 7

Joe Denly c †Rizwan b Brathwaite 31

Mohammad Hafeez run out 60

Ben Dunk c Shahid Afridi b Usman Qadir 1

Samit Patel not out 26

David Wiese c Brathwaite b Shahnawaz Dhani 13

Shaheen Shah Afridi not out 3

Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 5) 7

TOTAL (6 wickets, 20 overs) 157

Did not bat: Ahmed Daniyal, Haris Rauf, Salman Mirza

Fall: 1-17 (Sohail Akhtar, 3.2 ov), 2-17 (Fakhar Zaman, 4.3 ov), 3-106 (Joe Denly, 13.4 ov), 4-108 (Ben Dunk, 14.1 ov), 5-122 (Mohammad Hafeez, 16.2 ov), 6-141 (David Wiese, 18.3 ov)

Bowling: Sohail Khan 4-0-24-0, Shahnawaz Dhani 4-0-39-2, Carlos Brathwaite 4-1-20-2, Shahid Afridi 4-0-41-0, Usman Qadir 4-0-31-1

Multan Sultans

Mohammad Rizwan c Haris Rauf b Shaheen 76

Chris Lynn b Shaheen Shah Afridi 0

James Vince c Haris Rauf b Patel 5

Sohaib Maqsood not out 61

Rilee Rossouw not out 1

Extras (lb 4, nb 2, w 10) 16

TOTAL (3 wickets, 16.2 overs) 159

Did not bat: Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Carlos Brathwaite, Sohail Khan, Usman Qadir, Shahnawaz Dhani

Fall: 1-1 (Chris Lynn, 0.3 ov), 2-30 (James Vince, 3.2 ov), 3-140 (Mohammad Rizwan, 14.1 ov)

Bowling: Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-0-29-2, Salman Mirza 2-0-27-0, Samit Patel 3-0-26-1, Haris Rauf 3.2-0-41-0, Ahmed Daniyal-3-0-24, David Wiese 1-0-8-0

Result: Multan Sultans won by 7 wickets

Man of the Match: Mohammad Rizwan (MS)

Umpires: Ahsan Raza and Faisal Afridi