Mohammad Rizwan's 82 not out and a four-wicket haul by Shahnawaz Dahani helped Multan Sultans defeat Peshawar Zalmi by eight wickets in match number 21 of Pakistan Super League 6 in Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Initially, the Sultans' openers Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood found runs easily till Mohammad Irfan gave Zalmi a breakthrough.
Irfan took the wicket of Masood in the fourth over to put Sultans at 45/1.
Even though Masood was dismissed, Rizwan did not let that affect his batting and continued playing his game. And in the 10th over he reached his half-century to lead his team from the front in the run chase.
Five overs later Sohaib Maqsood also completed his half-century.
The Rizwan and Maqsood duo made a 116-run partnership before Maqsood was caught by Umaid Asif when he tried to finish the match with a 6.
However, Rizwan then hit a six on the very next ball to give his side an eight-wicket win over Zalmi. He remained unbeaten on 82 and Sultans won the match with 21 balls to spare.
Peshawar Zalmi's innings
Earlier, Sherfane Rutherford's 40-ball 56 helped Peshawar Zalmi set a 167-run target for the Multan Sultans after Shahnawaz Dahani's four-wicket haul.
Before the start of the match, Multan Sultans elected to bowl first after winning the toss.
At one point the Sultans were poised to post a big total as the team was 71/0 at the end of 8th over.
But two double-wicket overs by Dahani crumbled Zalmi to 88/4. He was asked to bowl by his captain in the 9th over of the game.
In that over the starlet dismissed Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Mailk. And in the 11th over, he removed Haider Ali and Rovman Powell to shift the momentum in favour of his team.
The quick succession of wickets had brought two new batsmen David Miller and Sherfane Rutherford to the crease for Zalmi. Both found it difficult to take off as the Sultans' bowlers were not giving them any room to attack.
The pressure at the end was too much and Miller departed for 22 off Blessing Muzarabani's bowling in the 16th over.
Later, Rutherford found some flow and hit a 40-ball 56 to take Zalmi past 150. He was run out one ball before the end of the innings as Peshawar closed their batting with 166-7.
SQUADS:
Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran Akmal (wk), Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, David Miller, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Fabian Allen, Wahab Riaz (c), Umaid Asif, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Imran
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c, wk), Shan Masood, Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Shimron Hetmyer, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dahani, Imran Khan, Imran Tahir