MULTAN – Peshawar Zalmi beat Multan Sultans by five runs in the ninth Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9 match at picturesque Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday evening.
Chasing a challenging 180-run target, Multan Sultans fell just short of the target after losing two wickets on the last two balls of the final over. Dawid Malan was the top scorer with 52 runs followed by Yasir Khan who made 43 runs. Reeza Hendricks made 28 runs, Iftikhar Ahmed 16, Usama Mir 12 and Abbas Afridi 11 runs. Arif Yaqoob bagged three wickets and Luke Wood, Naveen-ul-Haq and Salman Irshad two each while Paul Walter took one wicket. Luke Wood was named player of the match for his all-round performance.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Zalmi batters continued scoring runs at a decent pace despite losing Saim Ayub during the powerplay. Though no one managed to score a half-century, Zalmi posted a decent 179/8 in the allotted 20 overs due to valuable contributions from all the batters. Haseebullah Khan was the top scorer with 37 runs followed by skipper Babar Azam who made 31. Rovman Powell made 23 runs, Mohammad Haris 19, Luke Wood 17, Paul Walter 16 and Asif Ali 13 runs. Mohammad Ali, David Willey and Usama Mir bagged two wickets each while Abbas Afridi and Shahnawaz Dhani took one wicket each.
Peshawar Zalmi Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris (wk), Haseeb Ullah Khan, Rovman Powell, Asif Ali, Paul Walter, Luke Wood, Arif Yaqoob, Naveen Ul Haq, Salman Irshad
Multan Sultans Playing XI: Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Dawid Malan, Reeza Hendricks, Yasir Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani