Sohaib, Sohail cement Multan’s pole position in HBL PSL

By Our Correspondent

March 08, 2018

DUBAI: Sohaib Maqsood hammered a stunning 42-ball 85 to guide Multan Sultans to the top of HBL Pakistan Super League points-table with a 19-run win against Peshswar Zalmi here at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday night.

Sohaib smashed seven sixes and four fours after openers Ahmed Shehzad (37) and Kumar Sangakkara (28) laid a solid foundation with a stand of 51 from 7.3 overs.Chasing 184 to win, Peshawar Zalmi were never really in the hunt in the absence of their injured captain Darren Sammy. Any hopes they had were squashed by an excellent spell by Sohail Tanvir who finished with figures of 3-14 from four overs.

Stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez top-scored with 56 but he was unable to fire when Zalmi needed them most in the dying overs. England’s Liam Dawson, in contrast, made a valiant attempt with a 17-ball 32 but he was scalped by the wily Sohail.

Multan have consolidated their top place on the points table with the victory. They will now meet Quetta Gladiators in their match in Dubai on Wednesday (today).Agencies add: Sohaib’s 85 is now the highest individual score in PSL 2018, and saw Multan post 183 — the highest team total this year. It was enough to see off Peshawar, who for their part batted well, but were unable to keep up with the intimidating asking-rate throughout the match, ultimately falling short by 19 runs.

Sangakkara and Shehzad were effective and efficient, but it wasn’t until Maqsood arrived that the runs began to flow properly. The last eight overs saw 107 runs scored as a number of Peshawar’s bowlers lost their discipline, most notably Sameen Gul and Wahab Riaz, as Multan amassed 183.

Peshawar lost early wickets, with Kamran Akmal, Andre Fletcher and Dwayne Smith all failing to capitalise on aggressive starts. Mohammad Hafeez (56), who scored a half-century and Liam Dawson (32), put on a counter-attacking partnership, but the asking rate was always just a bit too far ahead, and Peshawar were made to pay the price for their errant death-overs bowling.

Another star for Multan was Sohail Tanvir. Opening the bowling for Multan, he put on early pressure by befuddling the batsmen with his uncanny variations, not only stymying the runs but also taking Fletcher, Liam Dawson and Hammad Azam. His final figures of 4-0-14-3 did complete justice to a player who has shone in franchise cricket all around the world, and is finally coming into his own in the tournament that will likely matter to him more than any other.

Peshawar Zalmi won toss

Multan Sultans

Ahmed Shehzad run out 37

†K C Sangakkara b Dawson 28

Sohaib Maqsood not out 85

*Shoaib Malik c Hasan b Umaid 13

K A Pollard not out 16

Extras (lb 1, nb 1, w 2) 4

Total (3 wickets; 20 Overs) 183

Did not bat: D M Bravo, Sohail Tanvir, M Irfan, Imran Tahir, Junaid Khan, Saif Badar

Fall: 1-51, 2-107, 3-140

Bowling: Sameen 4-0-42-0; Umaid 4-0-39-1; Hasan 4-0-43-0; Wahab 4-0-41-0; Dawson 4-1-17-1