Sultans on top as Qalandars collapse in Dubai

DUBAI: Lahore Qalandars joined the inaugural HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) with some of the biggest superstars attached to the T20 league.

But they turned out to be one of the biggest losers of the first two editions. Hopes were high among Lahore fans in the lead up to PSL 3 but the Qalandars once again choked at the big stage, falling to a big defeat against debutants Multan Sultans here at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday night in their opening game of the tournament.

They were unable to counter the aggression of the Sultans, first allowing their opponents to put on 179 and then crumbling in the run-chase. Such was the extent of their collapse that Lahore lost their last seven wickets for just four runs inside the space of just 15 balls. From 132-3 in 14.5, when victory was quite a possibility, Lahore crashed to 146 all out in 17.2 overs.

The bowling heroes for Sultans were left arm pacer Junaid Khan, who picked up a hat-trick and South Africa leggie Imran Tahir, who dealt big blows to the Lahore innings with big wickets during key moments.

The batting hero for them was once again veteran Sri Lankan maestro Kumar Sangakkara, who hit his second successive fifty within a span of 24 hours.

Chasing 180, Lahore began shakily. Brendon McCullum, batting at No. 3, holed out to third man without scoring. Fakhar Zaman kept them in the hunt with a terrific innings, smashing 49 runs off 30 balls, but a spectacular catch by Ahmed Shehzad turned the game. That triggered a monumental collapse, with Junaid taking a hat-trick and helping Multan record a morale-boosting 43-run win. Junaid picked up 3-24 while Tahir finished with 3-27.

Earlier, Sangakkara (63) was in sparkling form, mixing classical Test shots with modern T20 hitting. Lahore were never quite able to drag Multan back, with Shehzad and Malik (48) also making valuable contributions as they racked up the highest score of the tournament so far.

Score Board

Lahore Qalandars won toss

Multan Sultans

†K C Sangakkara c Fakhar b Mustafizur 63

Ahmed Shehzad c Umar b Mustafizur 38

Sohaib Maqsood b Yasir 4

*Shoaib Malik run out 48

K A Pollard run out 0

D M Bravo not out 9

Sohail Tanvir not out 1

Extras (b 9, w 7) 16

Total (5 wickets; 20 Overs) 179

Did not bat: Saif Badar, Imran Tahir, Junaid Khan, M Irfan

Fall: 1-88, 2-93, 3-147, 4-158, 5-178

Bowling: Raza 3-0-28-0; Aamer 2-0-26-0; Shaheen 3-0-35-0; Narine 4-0-32-0; Mustafizur 4-0-22-2; Yasir 4-0-27-1

Lahore Qalandars

Fakhar Zaman c Ahmed b Pollard 49

S P Narine c Junaid b Irfan 26

*B B McCullum c Sohail b Irfan 0

†Umar Akmal c Bravo b Pollard 31

Sohail Akhtar b Imran 21

C S Delport c Ahmed b Junaid 3

Aamer Yamin b Imran 1

Yasir Shah c Sangakkara b Junaid 0

Raza Hasan c Shoaib b Junaid 0

Shaheen Shah Afridi c Shoaib b Imran 0

Mustafizur Rahman not out 0

Extras (lb 1, w 4) 5

Total (all-out; 17.2 Overs) 136

Fall: 1-32, 2-40, 3-105, 4-132, 5-133, 6-135, 7-136, 8-136, 9-136, 10-136

Bowling: Sohail 3-0-26-0; Irfan 4-0-19-2; Junaid 3-0-24-3; Shoaib 1-0-11-0; Imran 3.2-0-27-3; Pollard 3-0-28-2

Result: Sultans won by 43 runs

Man of the Match: Imran Tahir (Multan Sultans)

T20 debut: Shaheen Shah Afridi (Lahore Qalandars)

Umpires: Tim Robinson (England) and Asif Yaqoob (Pakistan). TV Umpires: Shozab Raza (Pakistan). Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Today’s Fixtures

Multan Sultans v Islamabad United

04:30 pm PST

Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi

09:00 pm PST