Sultans seek first win as they face Qalandars

KARACHI: Multan Sultans will be desperately looking to notch their first win when they take on the table-toppers Lahore Qalandars in their third round fixture of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 here at National Stadium on Friday (today).

This will be the first match between the two teams in this season. The match begins at 3pm.

Mohammad Rizwan-led Multan Sultans are one of the top teams of the event with enough resources. They lack experience in their fast bowling which has been hurting them.

They started the tournament with a narrow three-wicket loss to two-time champions Islamabad United. Putting 150 on the board thanks to skipper Mohammad Rizwan’s solid 71 Multan did well with the ball until English all-rounder Lewis Gregory (49*) played a well-crafted knock to turn the table on Multan as United sealed their first win.

United needed 20 from two overs. Gregory hit experienced pacer Sohail Tanvir for a six and three fours in the penultimate over which fetched 19 runs.

Multan then went down to Peshawar Zalmi in their second game with a six-wicket margin. Having scored 193-4 due to solid contributions from James Vince (84) and Mohammad Rizwan (41), Multan failed to defend the target due to some massive hitting by Haider Ali (24*) in the end.

Zalmi required 21 in two overs. Haider smacked young fast bowler Shahnawaz Dhani for two sixes and Shoaib Malik (11*) also struck a six in that over which brought in 24 runs.

As today’s game will be held in day-light, Multan are expected to make judicious selection, particularly, in their spin department where they face selection issues due to several options in the presence of Shahid Afridi, Usman Qadir and Imran Tahir.

They need to put Imran Khan Senior in the squad who is in form. He and Sohail Tanvir may carry the load of bowling effectively in the death overs where they need experience.