Lahore Qalandars defeated Multan Sultans in the first match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 on Monday at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
By hitting two boundaries off the final two balls, Khushdil Shah pushed the chase dangerously close. Young Zaman Khan prevented 14 runs in the final over to help his team win.
Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood’s first-wicket partnership of 100 runs gave the Sultans a commanding lead. Rizwan got his twelfth fifty of the PSL season against the current champions.
The two batsmen maintained their positions at the wicket for an extended time, preventing the Qalandars’ bowlers from escaping. Hussain Talat, who sent Masood back to the pavilion after he hit 35 off 31 balls, provided the Qalandars with their first breakthrough.
Later, Rizwan was bowled out by Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi after scoring 75 runs in 50 balls, putting the home team’s score to 131-2.
After the first two innings, the Qalandars skipper and his bowling partner, Haris Rauf, reenergized his team’s participation in the match.
South Africa’s David Miller, noted for his tremendous swing, was dismissed for 25 runs after being struck by Rauf’s blazing yorker.
The penultimate over required 15 runs, so Shaheen passed the ball to Zaman. However, the youngster gave up a run after delivering a superb yorker to start the over.
Kieron Pollard was dismissed from the game on the following ball after failing to reach the crease while attempting to run for two.
Usman Khan was forced to leave the field after being called leg before wicket after being hit by Zaman’s third ball, a fast full-toss that struck the thigh pad of Usman Khan.
Usama Mir was run out and dismissed for a duck after the right-arm bowler bowled a wide and another superb delivery.
Even though the Sultans fell two runs short of their target, Khushdil’s last two balls resulted in consecutive fours.
Due to Fakhar’s 66 runs off 42 balls, the defending champions, Qalandars, scored 176 runs in 20 overs and were allowed to bat first. As a result, the left-handed batter scored his final 2000 PSL runs.
Young opener Mirza Tahir Baig hit 36 runs off 26 balls before being caught by Akeal Hossain.
With a first-wicket partnership of 61 runs, the two hitters strengthened the team’s position and created the basis for the Qalandars.
In the interim, wicketkeeper Shai Hope hit 19 runs off 17 balls.
Sikandar Raza, and Hussain Talat, helped their team attain a decent score by combining for a 39-run fifth wicket stand.
Ihsanullah, and Akeal each took two wickets for Multan Sultans, whereas Usama took only one.
Squad:
Multan Sultan
Muhammad Rizwan (C), Shan Masood, Usman Khan, David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Khushdil Shah, Akeal Hossain, Usama Mir, Sameen Gul, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Ihsanullah were all Multan Sultans.
Lahore Qalandars
Shaheen Afridi (C), Fakhar Zaman, Tahir Baig, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, David Wiese, Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan
 2023 on Monday at the Multan Cricket Stadium){kind=link}