PSL 7: Rilee Rossouw (65) and Shahnawaz Dahani (3/19) starred for Multan Sultans as the defending champions reached the PSL 7 final after a 28-run win over Lahore Qalandars.
Batting first Multan lost in-form Shan Masood early as Mohammad Hafeez struck in the second over. While Rizwan struggled to get going, Aamer Azmat eased some pressure off his skipper with a fluent cameo of 33 of 22 balls, to help Sutlans to 45/1 in powerplay.
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After Azmat’s wicket, Rossouw stepped up and took the run rate up. At the other end Rizwan was far from his flamboyant best as Lahore kept a tight check on runs.
Rossouw however soon found his grove and scored a 34-ball fifty. Rizwan, offered a life on 43, went to raise his half-century in the penultimate over as Sultans pushed in the last-three to post a healthy 163/2 in 20 overs.
Lahore looked out of depth in the chase with only Fakhar Zaman proving to be a thorn in Multan’s side.
Asif Afridi and Rumaan Raees bowled 5 of the 6 overs in the powerplay giving away only 29 runs.
From 38/1 after powerplay, Qalandars quickly slipped to 48/3 that included a unnecessary run out of Kamran Ghulam (20) and the stumping of seasoned Hafeez as the dot-ball pressure took its toll.
Fakhar Zaman then once again showed his prowess with the bat, with a brutal counter attack.
It started with a hat-trick of maximums against Imran Tahir in the 12th over. The fourth of his monster hits – slog sweep over deep midwicket – came right after his 37-ball fifty to the delight of the home supporters
With the equation down to 65 off the last 42, Multan roared back in the game.
Dahani, who was held back until the 14th over, took just three balls to strike and sent Harry Brook and Phillip Salt packing in succeeding overs.
It was David Wiley’s dismissal of Fakhar on 63 that effectively ended the chase. They both each picked up a wicket more in their respective third overs to choke Qalandars at death.
This win means Multan Sultans reach a second successive PSL final with hopes of defending their crown, with the form they are in at the moment it would be hard to stop them.
For Lahore they will have another shot at reaching the final when the take on the winner of the first eliminator between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi.
Brief scores:
Multan Sultans 163/2 in 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 65*, Mohammad Rizwan 53*; Mohammad Hafeez 1-16) Lahore Qalandars 135/9 in 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 63; Shahnawaz Dahani 3-19, David Willey 2-23)