ABU DHABI : Imran Tahir bamboozled three wickets as Multan Sultans beat Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs to win Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 6.
Shoaib Malik fought hard with his 48 runs but other Zalmi batters couldn’t contain the rhythm in front of potent Sultans’ attack.
Earlier, Sohaib Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw smashed 98 runs together to set the tone for Sultans to win their maiden PSL title. They helped their team to score 206-4 in the final.
Sent into bat in an all-important final, Sultans’ openers Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood provided a solid opening start of 68-1. Masood scored 37 before falling to Mohammad Imran on a slower delivery. He struck six boundaries.
Rizwan made run-a-ball 30 runs including two boundaries and a six. Maqsood and Rossouw joined the crease when Sultans were 83-2. They carried their team from there and added 98 runs together to help post 181-2 in 18.1 overs.
Maqsood scored his fifth PSL 6 fifty and remained not out for 65 runs with six boundaries and three sixes in his account. Rossouw smashed maiden PSL 6 fifty and got out after scoring 50 off 21 balls laced with five boundaries and three sixes.
Khushdil Shah played a quick knock of 15 off five balls spread over two sixes. Imran and Sameen Gul bagged two wickets each for Zalmi.
In reply, Zalmi lost Hazratullah Zazai after he stayed for long at the non-striker’s end. The pressure was built up on Zazai and the short ball outside off by Blessing Muzarabani did the work for Sultans as they got rid of the dangerous man.
Kamran Akmal provided a solid start from his bat, playing the majority of the powerplay and scoring 36 off 28 balls with the help of five boundaries and a six.
Malik stayed firm and outplayed a couple of bowlers in the middle but a slow bouncer from Sohail Tanvir removed him in a crunch moment. He scored 66 runs alongside Rovman Powell for the fourth wicket. Powell managed to score 23 off 14 balls with the help of two boundaries and a six.
Sherfane Rutherford scored 18 runs off 10 balls with the help of a boundary and two sixes.
Apart from Tahir, Imran Khan Sr and Muzarabani took two wickets each while Sohail bagged a scalp.
TOSS
Zalmi’s skipper Wahab Riaz won the toss and decided to bowl first against Sultans
Zalmi made a change, bringing in Sameen Gul to replace Umaid Asif who was suspended from the final after breaching the bio-secure bubble alongside teammate Haider Ali. Mohammad Rizwan’s Sultans are unchanged for the final contest.
SQUADS
PESHAWAR ZALMI: Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal (wk), Jonathan Wells, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Wahab Riaz (capt), Sameen Gul, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Imran
MULTAN SULTANS: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Roussouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Imran Khan, Shahnawaz Dhani
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