KARACHI – As Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine is moving towards its end, Multan Sultans jolted Peshawar Zalmi in the first Qualifier at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi, containing them to 147 in 20 overs at the loss of seven wickets.
Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and chose to bat first, but their batters failed to impress. Chasing the humble 147-run target, Multan Sultans scored the required number of runs in 18.3 overs at the loss of 3 wickets and reached the PSL final for the fourth time.
Table toppers Multan Sultans were the first team to advance to tournament playoffs with 7 victories, and Babar Azam’s Zalmi stood second, winning 6 games.
From the start, Sultans displayed their A-game with commanding performance while Zalmi’s league campaign ended with a tight game against the Karachi Kings, as they narrowly defeated by 2 runs in a thriller.
In the last five matches between Rizwan and Babar’s team, Zalmi, the head-to-head record favored Multan Sultans, who bagged three games. The most recent matches have been closely contested, with Zalmi winning the last two games by narrow margins of 4 and 5 runs.
On Thursday, pitch at Karachi Stadium helped bowlers as bounce at the venue had consistently been reliable, and the pace had been adequate for strokes to regularly clear the boundary ropes.
Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi Squads
Multan Sultans: Yasir Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Usman Khan, Johnson Charles, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali
Peshawar Zalmi: Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris (wk), Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Haseebullah Khan, Rovman Powell, Aamer Jamal, Luke Wood, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Salman Irshad
