Multan clinch victory in last over thriller

KARACHI: Shan Masood (88) batted superbly while Imran Tahir, Khushdil Shah and David Willey took three wickets each as Multan Sultans snatched a six-run win over Quetta Gladiators after a pulsating finish in their third-round fixture of the HBL PSL 2022 here at the National Stadium on Monday night.

This was the third straight win for Multan Sultans and they have six points at the summit. And the outcome also changed the trend as in the six previous games teams batting second remained successful. Shan’s super knock enabled Multan to pile-up 174-4 after being invited to bat first. Imran Tahir (3-24), Khushdil Shah (3-16) and Willey (3-22) then dismissed Quetta for 168 with one ball to spare. Chasing 175, Quetta needed 23 in 12 balls. Shahnawaz Dahani conceded 15 runs in the penultimate over, hit by Sohail Tanvir for a six and a four. In the same over James Faulkner (18) also got run out, smacking one six from 12 balls. In the last over from David Willey, Quetta needed eight. Willey bowled two dot balls to Naseem Shah. He then took a single off the third before Sohail Tanvir (13) fell off the fourth ball, held in the deep by Rilee Rossouw. Naseem Shah (1) off the fifth ball was excellently held in the deep by Tim David. Singapore’s player intelligently threw the ball back before his foot touched the boundary. And he then rushed in to complete the catch. And that’s the end of the showpiece in favour of Multan Sultans.

Defending 175, Khushdil Shah provided an early breakthrough to Multan when he brilliantly held English batsman Will Smeed (3) off his own bowling in the third over of the innings. Smeed faced five balls. In his next over Khushdil bowled Ahsan Ali (24) to add to Quetta’s miseries. Ahsan smacked three fours and a six off David Willey in his 19-ball knock. Quetta were 29-2 in the fifth over. Ben Duckett and Sarfaraz Ahmed built the innings. With over ten runs per over required in the last eight overs South African leggie Imran Tahir did the damage when he got rid of Duckett (47) and Ashir Qureshi (0) off his two successive deliveries to tilt the pendulum towards Multan. Duckett wanted to reverse-sweep and Ashir was trapped lbw. Duckett struck six fours and one six off 32 balls. Duckett, English test cricketer, added 68 runs for the third wicket with Sarfaraz. Quetta were 97-4 in the 13th over. Khushdil, in the next over, had Sarfaraz, held in the deep by Tim David after scoring 23-ball 21 with two fours. In the next over, Imran Tahir had Mohammad Nawaz (1) caught and bowled. However a super firework from Iftikhar kept Quetta’s hopes alive. After a poor 17th over from Imran Khan Senior in which he conceded 24 runs, hit by Iftikhar for three sixes and one four, David Willey got rid of Iftikhar for 13-ball 30 which carried three sixes and one four.

After being invited to bat first Shan Masood did a glorious job by scoring a super 88 off 58 balls, his second successive fifty to guide Multan Sultans to a fighting total in the end. After losing Mohammad Rizwan (0) in the second over of the innings when he was undone by Hasnain, held by Ben Duckett at mid-on, Shan took the responsibility. He played another excellent knock, his fifth fifty in his PSL career. It was also his PSL career best score, beating his previous best 83 which he scored in his previous show against Lahore Qalandars the other day. Shan smacked six fours and four huge sixes. Shan, who brought in his fifty off 38 balls, hit off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed (0-32) for two glorious sixes in the 16th over of the innings which yielded 17 runs. He also hit Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Nawaz for one six each. Shan added 50 off 40 balls for the second wicket with Sohaib Maqsood, who chipped in with a 23-ball 21, featuring two fours and a six off the Australian paceman James Faulkner. It was Faulkner, who got rid of Sohaib, who wanted to hit him over the mid-wicket but could not clear the boundary and Will Smeed took a well-judged catch in the deep. Multan were 62-2 in the ninth over when Sohaib fell.

Shan, who was held in the deep by Iftikhar off Mohammad Hasnain in the penultimate over of the innings, then shared 46 off 42 balls for the third wicket association with Rilee Rossouw who got run out while coming back for the second after scoring a 19-ball 21 with two fours. Shan then added 42 off 19 balls for the fourth wicket stand with Tim David who remained not out on 16-ball 28, hitting Naseem Shah for two straight sixes, besides smacking a well-timed four. Khushdil Shah, who came to the crease after the fall of Shan, remained not out on eight which came off five balls. The left-hander smacked Naseem for a huge 94 metre six which went into the stands. David-Khushdil fifth wicket unbroken stand of 24 came off just ten balls. Hasnain was the pick of the bowlers with 2-27 in his quota of four overs. James Faulkner captured 1-22 in four overs. Naseem Shah, who had taken five wickets in his previous game, remained expensive, conceding 42 runs in four overs. Sohail Tanvir leaked 36 runs in four overs.

Earlier Multan made one change, bringing in Abbas Afridi in place of Ihsanullah, who was feeling pain in his right leg and had left the field in Multan’s last game against Lahore Qalandars. Quetta Gladiators went unchanged. Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza supervised the match.