Sahibzada Farhan and Josh Philippe scored fifties as Multan Sultans beat Rawalpindiz by seven wickets in the 14th match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Monday.
Set to chase a 183-run target, the Sultans comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of just three wickets and 22 balls to spare.
Batting first, Sam Billings scored 56 as Pindiz set a 183-run target for Sultans in the game.
Put into bat first, the seventh-placed side racked up 182/8 in their 20 overs despite Faisal Akram’s four-wicket haul.
The Pindiz got off to a shaky start to their innings as their opener Yasir Khan (five) was dismissed by Muhammad Ismail in the third over with just 15 runs on the board.
Following the early stutter, captain Mohammad Rizwan (19) was joined by Kamran Ghulam in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to raise an anchoring 33-run partnership for the second wicket, which culminated with the former’s dismissal off Arafat Minhas in the sixth over.
Ghulam was then involved in brief partnerships with Abdullah Fazal (14) and Daryl Mitchell (17), until eventually getting dismissed by Akram in the 10th over and walking back after scoring a 24-ball 35, laced with three fours and two sixes.
His dismissal paved the way for Billings to walk out and bat at No.6, and the wicketkeeper batter waged a valiant fight to add valuable runs at the backend with his unbeaten 56 off 34 deliveries, studded with seven fours and a six.
He also shared a 33-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Dian Forrester, who played a blistering 24-run cameo off just 11 deliveries, featuring three sixes.
Akram spearheaded the Sultans’ bowling charge with economical figures of 4/31 in his four overs, followed by Minhas, who bagged two wickets, while Peter Siddle and Ismail chipped in with one scalp apiece.
Playing XIs
Multan Sultans: Steven Smith, Sahibzada Farhan, Josh Philippe (wk), Shan Masood, Ashton Turner (c), Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Nawaz, Peter Siddle, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Muhammad Ismail and Faisal Akram.
RawalPindiz: Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Yasir Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Daryl Mitchell, Sam Billings, Abdullah Fazal, Dian Forrester, Rishad Hossain, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Amir Khan and Asif Afridi.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
