Multan Sultans (170/5) defeat Lahore Qalandars (166/5) by 5 wickets to register their third win on the trot in PSL 9

If the team cant chase 40 in 4 then u dont say rrr was too high.
U'l see 36 being chased down in 3 overs 7-8 times out of ten. But not 240 in 20 overs
Exactly. People just see rrr. Ask any captain if he d like to cahse 180 in 20 overs at 9 rr or 34 in 3 overs with 6 wickets in hand.
 
Lol the bowling has been disastrous in PSL so far. Not good sign for Pakistan at all.
 
Match winning innings from Ifti. On a pitch where a lot of batters have struggled to time the ball, this is great stuff from Ifti.
 
If I were Qalandars I wouldn’t be looking to get Rizwan out

Let him stay, he will let the rr climb to 10…and then watch how Khushdil and Iftikhar bottle it
Gem 💎
Rizwan's a brilliant captain..he gets the best out of players like iftikhar and usama
 
Match winning innings from Ifti. On a pitch where a lot of batters have struggled to time the ball, this is great stuff from Ifti.
Good innings from Iftikhar, but you have to laugh of this bowling. He was bolwing fulltosses and length balls. Where are the yorkers he used to bowl?
 
About time Zaman's one dimensional bowling got punished by a solid striker. Lahore Qalandar's bowling line up is exposed without Rashid Khan, Shaheen, Rauf, Zaman are too one dimensional now. They don't have the drive to win like they did in the last 2 seasons.
 
Testing times for fans now to decide what is true.

Is Lahore's bowling suddenly the worst. If so what should we make of Khawaja Nafay's knock then?

If Lahore's bowling is great then Iftikhar is still one of the best finishers for Pakistan in this format.
 
About time Zaman's one dimensional bowling got punished by a solid striker. Lahore Qalandar's bowling line up is exposed without Rashid Khan, Shaheen, Rauf, Zaman are too one dimensional now. They don't have the drive to win like they did in the last 2 seasons.
I have said a multiple times that zaman Khan is bang average. The sooner the fans realize this the better.
 
Long ago , I remember PAK fans complaining that Kohli used to abuse and it didnt make for family-friendly viewing.

Doesn't seem to be an issue in the PSL though.
 
Good innings from Iftikhar, but you have to laugh of this bowling. He was bolwing fulltosses and length balls. Where are the yorkers he used to bowl?

Well, if you miss the accuracy on the yorkers they either become full tosses or half volleys. It's amazing if you execute it but that's why yorkers are rarer nowadays because its tough to execute and players so many lap shots anyways that it can render them useless anyways.

Multan just continues to be a juggernaut in PSL under Rizwan. Won the chip + final appearances and they always seem to find ways to win. Lahore seems to be in trouble. Batting is OK but hasn't fully clicked yet and bowling is way off without Rashid.
 
After babar, its shaheen’s time to get exposed in international cricket by taking up captaincy burden for the sake to feel power in a team.
 

Heroics by Rizwan and Iftikhar inspire Multan to third consecutive win in HBL PSL 9​


A breezy cameo by Iftikhar Ahmed and a fighting half-century by skipper Mohammad Rizwan helped Multan Sultans win their third game on the trot in HBL PSL 9, on Wednesday night at Multan Cricket Stadium. The defending champions, Lahore Qalandars, meanwhile lost their third consecutive game in the tournament as Sultans completed the highest successful chase in HBL PSL history at their home ground.

In pursuit of the 167-run chase, Multan Sultans found themselves in early trouble. Shaheen Shah Afridi started with a maiden over, while Zaman Khan eked out the scalp of Dawid Malan for a golden duck in the following over with the magnificent yorker. Shaheen returned to remove the dangerous Reeza Hendricks (9, 7b, 2x4s), who holed out to Fakhar Zaman in extra cover leaving Multan 15-2 in 2.5 overs.

Yasir Khan and Mohammad Rizwan stitched a 38-run third-wicket partnership to bring a semblance of stability to the Multan innings. George Linde struck on the last ball of the eighth over to dismiss Yasir (8, 13b, 1x4), who was stumped trying to hit down the ground.

David Willey walked out to bat at number five and stitched a crucial partnership with Rizwan, putting on a valuable 75 off 51 balls. The Multan skipper took charge against spinners and pacers alike while holding the innings together.

With the required run rate creeping up, Zaman managed the much-needed breakthrough for his team as he dismissed Rizwan (82, 59b, 9x4s, 3x6s), courtesy of a fine catch by Linde at deep midwicket with the scorecard reading 128-4.

The 18th over saw Iftikhar and Willey hitting a boundary and a six respectively before Willey (25, 23b, 1x4, 1x6) was pinned leg-before wicket by Shaheen.

With 21 runs required off the last two overs, Iftikhar went berserk in the 19th over, hitting Zaman left, right and center for five consecutive cracking shots that involved three boundaries and two massive sixes.

Iftikhar finished the game with one over to spare and an unbeaten 11-ball 34 to his name. For Lahore, Shaheen and Zaman bagged two wickets each while Linde struck once.

Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bat first in their first away game of the HBL PSL 9, Lahore Qalandars copped an early blow. In the second over, the opening batter, Sahibzada Farhan slashed at a back-of-length delivery which induced a sharp edge, taken safely at the second slip by Iftikhar off the bowling of Mohammad Ali.

With a solid start for Multan Sultans, Fakhar Zaman and Rassie van der Dussen took it upon themselves to take the team out of trouble. They attacked Ali, Willey and Shahnawaz Dahani to up the ante and finish the powerplay on a high note with the scorecard reading 49-1. Fakhar looked in his element, smashing two boundaries and as many sixes in the powerplay.

Van der Dussen brought up his second HBL PSL fifty off 34 balls in the 12th over as he hit Abbas Afridi for a boundary towards midwicket. The duo put on a substantial second-wicket partnership of 94 runs off 66 balls before Usama Mir struck to remove the Van der Dussen (54, 37b, 4x4s, 2x6s) off a brilliant ball that pitched outside off and took the edge to end up in Rizwan’s gloves.

Sikandar Raza joined Fakhar in the middle and got off the blocks early after hitting Iftikhar for two boundaries in the 14th over. An over later Fakhar (41, 36b, 2x4s, 2x6s) departed after top-edging a ball to Rizwan off Abbas’ bowling, leaving Lahore 114-3.

Sikandar (23, 16b, 4x4s) looked to keep the run flow intact but he too fell prey to Ali, in the 17th over while trying to clear the long-on boundary.

Jahandad Khan’s nine-ball stay at the crease yielded 16 runs comprising of a solitary towering six, before he was run out after he failed to make his ground at the non-striker’s end.

Carlos Braithwaite (15 not out, 8b, 1x4, 1x6) chipped in with a cameo that helped Qalandars scrape through to a competitive total of 166-5 in the allotted 20 overs. Multan’s pacer Ali picked up two wickets, taking his tally of HBL PSL 9 scalps to eight, while Abbas and Usama dismissed one batter each.

Scores in brief:

Multan Sultans beat Lahore Qalandars by five wickets


Lahore Qalandars 166-5, 20 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 54, Fakhar Zaman 41; Mohammad Ali 2-28)

Multan Sultans 170-5, 19 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 82, Iftikhar Ahmed 34 not out; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-25)

Player of the match – Mohammad Rizwan (Multan Sultans)

Source: PCB
 
Y'all are unnecessarily savage. Zaman Khan is not great but he's decent. He bottled it today but even the best could bottle it. Zaman has had far more outstanding match-saving overs than losing ones. He's young. Give him more time
 
are we really gonna take Zaman and rauf to World Cup ?
No haris, please. He is a deadbeat guy now without much to offer. He should be dropped from the LQ squad, let alone the national team. Zaman can be an x-factor and should be persisted with. Those pinpoint Yorkers with a new ball are not a thing that you see every day.

But overall, Multan was fantastic yet again even though their squad is not that power-filled type but somehow they always come on top.
 
Dropping catches is pretty normal for these guys I think so.

------------------------------------------

Iftikhar Ahmed during Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars post-match presser:

About the heat of the moment he had with Shaheen Shah Afridi:

"This is the beauty of cricket. You see a bit of anger, then you boost yourself. I personally play with aggression. Shaheen is my junior and there’s nothing like that between us. He is also the captain of Pakistan, so it’s very difficult to see him like this."

About Multan Sultan’s fielding:

"We have done very poor fielding in all three matches. We have to admit this, but you can only try. We always thought that fielding is a job to do with your hands. The more fielding practice you do, the more improvement comes. So our only option is to put a little more effort into fielding and improvement will definitely come in the future."

"Dropping catches is like you have dropped the match and it doesn’t happen all the time. And it’s not like we will drop catches every time, we will definitely catch them too."​
 
Last edited:
Back
Top