This is the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in which the country’s premier wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan is captaining Multan Sultans. And interestingly for the fourth successive time, Sultans qualified for the final when they downed Peshawar Zalmi by seven wickets in the Qualifier of the PSL 9 at Karachi’s National Bank Stadium on the night of March 14.

When this article appears, the second finalists will have been decided who will clash with the Multan Sultans in the final on Monday (tomorrow).

On Friday night, Quetta Gladiators were scheduled to face Islamabad United in the Eliminator 1 and the winners of this contest were to face Peshawar Zalmi in the Eliminator 2 which was scheduled on Saturday (March 16).

In the Qualifier against Zalmi, Multan Sultans played superbly and dominated the show right from the start.

They restricted Zalmi to 146-7 with Babar Azam top-scoring with 46 before being clean bowled by Chris Jordan with a fine yorker and that was a crucial wicket as Zalmi struggled from then onwards before Jordan also bowled a tight last over to prevent Zalmi posting a fighting total.

Besides Jordan’s fine bowling which fetched him two wickets, leg-spinner Usama Mir was again excellent with the ball, finishing with figures of 2-16 in four overs and was also declared the man of the match.

Sultans chased the target down with ease with nine balls to spare after losing three wickets.

Bannu-born young opener Yasir Khan hammered a 37-ball 54 before Usman Khan’s 28-ball 36 not out and Iftikhar Ahmed’s eight-ball unbeaten 22 enabled Sultans to achieve the target with an enviable ease on a wicket where some seam was also seen.

Sultans, who won the PSL 6 title in Abu Dhabi by beating Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs, look to reclaim the crown this time.

The team has gelled extremely well under Rizwan who himself has been scoring runs in every other game.

The best thing for Sultans in this edition is that although they don’t have mega stars in their side, their combination has been superb with every player contributing to the team’s success. And it’s the key thing which should also work in the final.

Jordan, the English pacer, who joined Sultans late, has strengthened their pace battery. The way he bowled in the Qualifier against Zalmi was worth seeing as he unleashed superb yorkers and prevented the batsmen scoring fluent runs.

This was the first time in this PSL when Sultans conquered Zalmi.

Zalmi defeated Sultans at the latter’s backyard in Multan by five runs. Zalmi downed them again in Pindi by four runs.

Sultans exploited the home conditions in Multan this season and won four matches of their initial five they hosted in Multan.

Then they routed Lahore Qalandars by 60 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore before edging past the eventual fifth position finishers Karachi Kings by 20 runs at Karachi to stay at the pole position. At this stage Sultans faced two successive blows when they were beaten by Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi by three wickets and four runs, respectively.

However, Sultans fought back strongly and routed Quetta Gladiators by 79 runs in their last league show to once again grab the summit spot.

Besides Rizwan, Dubai-based Usman Khan has been the for Sultans with two fine centuries and once he also fell just short of a century.

His impeccable batting contribution has played a key role in Sultans’ solid run besides Iftikhar Ahmed’s super finishing ability. His death overs exploits have enthralled the audience.

David Willey as an all-rounder has done well so far and the pacers, Jordan, Abbas Afridi and well-disciplined Mohammad Ali, have proved too lethal for the oppositions.

Usama Mir has been entirely different this season. He has improved a lot and leads the chart with 23 wickets. It’s a good thing ahead of the T20 World Cup as he could be one of the hot contenders for the country’s squad which will host New Zealand next month for a five-match T20I series.

It would be inappropriate if Rizwan’s contribution as skipper was ignored. There is no doubt that he is the best skipper ever seen in the PSL history as he has guided his side to their fourth successive final.

The best thing about him is that he has kept his charges happy and motivated and even when any fielder drops a catch he still appreciates and backs him and this thing builds confidence in the players. His field placement has been good and he has utilised his multiple bowling options quite nicely.

Although Multan lost three matches, all the defeats were very close which shows how formidable the side is.

Multan will need to keep focussed as their real test will be on March 18 in the final.

Let’s see how they keep their momentum and finish it.

They will need to finish the season with the way they started it — by inflicting a crushing 55-run defeat on Karachi Kings in Multan.

I hope people know that former Pakistan head coach Abdul Rehman is acting as Multan’s head coach in this season with former Test cricketer Mohammad Waseem serving as his assistant.

Abdul Rehman has a huge contribution as a coach. Especially at the domestic level, he has done a marvelous job while serving as head coach of various domestic teams, especially of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He had a massive role in selection overall, especially in picking pacer Mohammad Ali as he knew that he is consistent and it helped in the season as Ali led the pace battery with disciplined exploits.

Rehman has a cool head on his shoulders and his combination with Rizwan has been so impressive so far.

Both have a shrewd approach to the game.

Sultans made their debut in the third edition under the captaincy of Shoaib Malik and finished fifth with nine points. They finished fifth again in the fourth edition with just three wins to their credit and again Malik was captain. In the fifth edition under the leadership of Shan Masood, Sultans did well as they topped the group stage with 14 points. However, they went down to Karachi Kings in the Qualifier which the latter won in the super over after the show had ended in a tie. In the Eliminator 2, Sultans were beaten by Lahore Qalandars by 25 runs.

Under Rizwan, who made debut for Sultans both as skipper and stumper Sultans in the PSL 6, they won the crown in Abu Dhabi by defeating Zalmi by 47 runs with Sohaib Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw scoring rapid fifties and Imran Tahir taking three wickets at crucial stage when Sultans had to defend the 207-run target.

And in the next two editions’ finals, Lahore Qalandars downed Sultans to win two successive titles.

United and Qalandars have won this event twice. It’s a huge opportunity for the in-form Sultans to also complete a double.

73.alam@gmail.com