Multan defeat Peshawar by 57 runs

KARACHI: Skipper Mohammad Rizwan and Tim David hammered fine fifties while Imran Tahir and Shahnawz Dahani bowled well as Multan Sultans romped to their fifth straight win when they demolished Peshawar Zalmi by 57 runs in their fifth-round fixture of the HBL PSL 2022 here at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

Rizwan (82) and David (51*) shepherded Multan to 222-3. Imran Tahir (3-25) and Dahani (3-41) bowled extremely well to restrict Zalmi to 165-8.

Set to score 223, Peshawar Zalmi lost an early wicket when Dahani in the second over of the innings got rid of Kamran Akmal, caught by Khushdil Shah at mid-wicket. He hit two fours from seven balls. Haider Ali and Hazratullah Zazai tried to score rapidly but again Dahani struck when he removed the former. Haider wanted to slice a short-pitched delivery over the third-man fielder but failed to do so with keeper Rizwan taking a good catch while running towards his right.

Haider hit four fours and one six in his 12-ball 24. And Zalmi were 55-2 in the fifth over. South African leggie Imran Tahir then dislodged Shoaib Malik (11), held by Tim David in the deep to leave Zalmi at 84-3 in the tenth over. Zalmi continued to lose wickets as Imran Tahir got rid of Sherfane Rutherford (2) and Zazai (43) off his two successive balls in the 12th over to leave Zalmi gasping at 93-5.

Zazai smacked one six and five fours from 32 deliveries. In the next over Abbas Afridi clean bowled Wahab Riaz (2) with a slower one before Dahani got rid of Usman Qadir (12) to leave Zalmi at 119-7.

Following lusty hitting by Ben Cutting during which he also hit Dahani for three sixes in an over, Blessing Muzarabani got rid of Mohammad Umar (3) to leave Zalmi at 158-8 in the final over. And soon after Zalmi’s innings ended. Ben Cutting remained not out on 52, hammering five sixes and three fours from 31 balls.

Imran Tahir and Dahani were ably backed by Abbas Afridi (1-20) and Muzarabani (1-34). Anwar Ali remained the most expensive bowler as he conceded 36 runs in three overs.

Rizwan was adjudged as man of the match for his super knock. This was the third loss for Zalmi in five matches and they have four points to their credit.

After being invited to bat, Rizwan (82) and Tim David (51*) slammed super fifties to enable Multan Sultans pile-up 222-3, the second highest total in the event. The duo added 69 runs in just 31 balls for the third-wicket stand to take Multan to a decent total. Rizwan, who was caught by Saqib Mahmood at long-off off Salman Irshad, hammered eight fours and one six in his excellent 53-ball knock. Rizwan’s fifty came off 31 balls. This was the third fifty from the wicket-keeper batsman.

Singapore-born Tim David, who has played most of his cricket in Australia besides representing Singapore, was, in fact, too ruthless in his approach. He mercilessly smashed almost every bowler over the park, clobbering six sixes and two fours in his 19-ball 51 not out. His fifty came off just 18 balls. This was the second fifty from David in this event.

David shared 26 in just eight balls for the fourth wicket unbroken association with left-handed batsman Khushdil Shah, who struck a seven-ball 21 not out, smacking Wahab Riaz for three successive sixes in the final over of the innings which yielded 24 runs.

Earlier Rizwan and Shan Masood (35) provided a breezy start to Multan when they shared 85 runs in 54 balls for the opening stand. Shoaib Malik broke the dangerous partnership when he had Shan, held at backward point by Sherfane Rutherford. Shan struck 25-ball 35 with five fours. Rizwan then added 42 in 27 balls for the second-wicket stand with Sohaib Maqsood who chipped in with a 17-ball 25, hitting two huge sixes and one four.

Salman Irshad (1-38 in 4 overs), Usman Qadir (1-34 in 3) and Shoaib Maik (1-17 in 2) were the successful bowlers.

Skipper Wahab Riaz remained the most expensive as he leaked 55 runs in his quota of four overs. Richard Illingworth and Shozab Raza supervised the match.

Earlier, Zalmi made one change, bringing in England’s pacer Saqib Mahmood in place of Hussain Talat.

Multan made three changes by inducting Johnson Charles, Dahani and Muzarabani in place of Rilee Rossouw, David Willey and Rumman Raees.