Pakistan Super league final is just one match away now as in the qualifier Multan Sultan defeat Islamabad United by 31 runs to fix their place as finalist of the PSL2021. Three-fers from Sohail Tanvir and Blessing Muzarabani and a belligerent half-century from Sohaib Maqsood guided Multan Sultans to their first-ever final of the HBL Pakistan Super League.
United – 2016 and 2018 winners – will have another chance of progressing to the final as they play against Peshawar Zalmi who is the winner of the Eliminator 1 in the Eliminator 2 on Tuesday evening.
Islamabad United rapped up in 19th over on the account of 149 by Sultans’s in excellent balling show. Earlier, after opting to bat first, Sultans scored 180 for five on the back of Sohaib’s fourth HBL PSL 6 half-century. The right-handed hard-hitting batsman top-scored for his team with 59 off 41, smashing seven fours and three sixes.
He stitched a 63-run partnership with Johnson Charles (41 off 21, three fours, three sixes) for the fourth-wicket after Sultans had lost Shan Masood (25 off 22, four fours) and Rilee Rossouw (zero off two balls) in the eighth over to Shadab. Captain Mohammad Rizwan had earlier perished for a duck in the second over of the innings.
Khushdil Shah (42 not out off 22, five sixes) struck four sixes in the 19th over of the innings which helped Sultans post a formidable score on the board. He knitted an unbeaten 43-run partnership for the sixth-wicket with Sohail (12 not out off nine, one four).
For United, Faheem Ashraf and Shadab took two wickets apiece.
Qualifier – Multan Sultans beat Islamabad United by 31 runs
Multan Sultans 180-5, 20 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 59, Khushdil Shah 42 not out, Johnson Charles 41; Shadab Khan 2-25, Faheem Ashraf 2-35)
Islamabad United 149 all out, 19 overs (Usman Khawaja 70, Hussain Talat 25; Sohail Tanvir 3-17, Blessing Muzarabani 3-31, Imran Tahir 2-29)
Player of the match – Sohail Tanvir (Multan Sultans
Eliminator 1
Peshawar Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings, the title defenders, by five wickets and one ball spare in Eliminator 1 of the HBL Pakistan Super League 6.
Two dropped catches of Sherfane Rutherford on the first and penultimate balls by Danish Aziza and Thisara Perera in Mohammad Ilyas’ last over saw Peshawar Zalmi get seven runs and cross the line.
Zalmi, the champions of the 2017 edition, will now play Islamabad United in Eliminator 2 on Tuesday and the winner will take on Multan Sultans in the final on Thursday.
Player of the match Hazratullah Zazai’s whirlwind 77 set the tone for Zalmi’s successful chase of 176. The Afghanistan opener smashed 10 fours and spanked five sixes in 38 balls and stitched an opening partnership of 49 with Kamran Akmal (13 off 12) and then added 43 more runs with Imam-ul-Haq (11 off 17). In both alliances, he took the lead role and made sure that Kings’ bowlers remained on the defensive. When he became Perera’s second wicket, Zalmi had, by then, accumulated 103 runs in 11.3 overs.
Shoaib Malik provided support in the middle-order with his 30 off 25, before Sherfane Rutherford (17 not out off 10) sealed the win.
Earlier, Zalmi pacers Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan and Umaid Asif equally shared six wickets and the seventh wicket was taken by Mohammad Imran Kings were restricted to 175 for seven.
Babar Azam scored his seventh half-century of the edition after Wahab decided to bowl after calling the toss right. Kings wickets fell on regular intervals after Sharjeel Khan (26 off 20) was dismissed in the sixth over and Babar struggled to find the desired support from the other end.
Perera played a handy knock in the middle-order scoring 37 runs at more than two-runs-a-ball as his 18-ball stay at the wicket was studded with four fours and three sixes.
Scores in brief:
Eliminator 1 – Peshawar Zalmi beat Karachi Kings by five wickets
Karachi Kings 175-7, 20 overs (Babar Azam 53, Thisara Perera 37, Sharjeel Khan 26; Mohammad Irfan 2-21, Wahab Riaz 2-29, Umaid Asif 2-37)
Peshawar Zalmi 176-5, 19.5 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 77, Shoaib Malik 30; Thisara Perera 2-10)
Player of the match – Hazratullah Zazai (Peshawar Zalmi)
