It was all too easy in the end for Multan Sultans who defeated Peshawar Zalmi in the 21st game of the Pakistan Super League 2021. The eight-wicket win with more than three overs to spare while chasing a decent total of 67 would do a world of good to the Sultans who were reeling in the bottom two ever since the tournament started. Now with the third win, which also accounts for two wins a row and no losses so far in the Abu Dhabi leg has put Mohammad Rizwan’s team right in the reckoning for the Playoffs.
Shahnawaz Dhani, the fun-loving, always smiling, heavy ball bowler from Larkana in Sindh was the hero alongside the captain for Multan. He picked up his best-ever PSL figures 4-31 in four overs. That too after having been dispatched for 24 in his first two overs.
The Sultans cut to the chase right from the beginning with openers Shan Masood and Rizwan teeing off without much of a look around. The duo added 45 for the first wicket in just 22 balls before Masood was removed by Mohammad Irfan. Sohaib Maqsood, who arrived at the crease started dealing in boundaries from the onset. The two added 116 in just 76 balls to kill the game. While Rizwan remained unbeaten on 82 from 56 balls, Maqsood, in a hurry to finish off the game was caught at 61 from 31 balls. With this 82, Rizwan also became the leading run-scorer in PSL 2021 with 408 runs in seven innings.
However, he also offered chances but was not caught either by Shoaib Malik in the sixth over or by Imran Randhawa in the 12th. On both occasions the bower was Irfan. When he was finally caught by Iron Man Umaid Asif, it was way too late as Sultans needed just six runs and it was achieved by six from the Rizwan’s willow.
The fifth bowler once again posed problems for Peshawar as Fabian Allen was taken for 39 in his four overs. Even Asif and Randhawa were costly too and so was the skipper Wahab Riaz. Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Wahab said, “We didn't execute our plans well. We were 10-15 short but I still think it was a fighting total. Dew did impact the game. If we had bowled in good areas, the result would've been different.” “We don't have to think about this game, it was just a bad day at the office. What's done is done, we need to move forward,” he added.
Earlier in the night, after winning the toss Sultans decided to bowl first. They would have rued this decision at the start of the innings because of the way things were going. The opening pair of Kamran Akmal and Haider Ali put on 71 runs for the Zalmi in nine overs. The Sultans were lacklustre in the field, dropping chances and misfielding at the same time. While Dhani dropped Ali when he was just on six, Rizwan let down a regulation chance off the bowling of Dhani when Akmal edged an outside off delivery.
But once those mistakes were done and the powerplay was over, Sultans started to pull things back. In the ninth over Dhani struck twice to remove Akmal and Mailk in successive deliveries. In his next over, the 22-year-old ended Ali’s miserable stay at the crease in which he made 28 off 30 balls, without making any meaningful connection with the bat. Rovman Powell too was removed in the same over, putting a lot of pressure on the Zalmi batting unit. For this performance of his, Dhani was declared Man of the Match and he also became the leading wicket-taker in PSL 2021 with 13 wickets from six games.
David Miller tried his best, but couldn’t do much after a bouncer from Blessing Muzarabani climbed on to him and he was caught acrobatically by Rizwan behind the stumps. At 117-5 with almost 16 overs gone, Zami were staring at a low total when Sherfane Rutherford decided to take matters in his hand. The 22-year-old Guyanaes hit 56 off 40 balls, building a 23 ball 43 run partnership with Allen.
He was eventually run out, but not before he had hit four humungous sixes and two fours. Thanks to his innings the Zalmi had more than a fighting total of 166 to defend.
Rizwan was happy with the win, knowing very well how important it is for him and his side to win the maximum of the remaining three games to keep aiming for a Playoff birth. “We have few things to improve on like our fielding. The pitch looked good t the time of the chase so told the batsmen that if we bat deep it'll get easier with dew coming in." Talking about his limping throughout his stay at the crease, the 29-year-old said, “There's swelling in my leg around the calf. Hopefully will recover in time.”
Well, he doesn’t have much time at hand as the Sultans next play Quetta on June 16 at the very same ground of Sheikh Zayd Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Zalmi though would be Karachi Kings in the second game of the doubleheaders on June 15 itself.