The caravan of PSL 2022 has moved on to Lahore and the 17th game of the season will see Lahore Qalandars lock horns with defending champions Multan Sultans at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.
This will be the second meeting between these two sides and Qalandars will be eager to avenge the 5-wicket defeat they suffered during the Karachi leg of the season.
In that game, the opening duo of Shan Masood (83 off 50 deliveries) and Mohammad Rizwan (69 off 42 deliveries) obliterated Lahore's bowling attack to comfortably overhaul their total of 5/206.
Since that defeat, Qalandars stitched three wins on the bounce but the homecoming proved to be an anti-climatic affair as their winning streak was snapped by Quetta Gladiators.
Despite hammering 5-204 in 20 overs thanks to a blistering 45-ball 70 by opener Fakhar Zaman and brilliant cameos from Harry Brook (41* off 17 deliveries) and David Wiese (22* off 9 deliveries), the bowling once again proved to be their undoing as the Gladiators romped home in the last over courtesy of a sensational 57-ball 116 by Jason Roy, an unbeaten 38-ball 49 by James Vince and a 12-ball 25* from Mohammad Nawaz.
A star-studded bowling line-up of Lahore which included international superstars like Shaheen Afridi (0/40 in 4 overs) and Rashid Khan (0/32 in 4 overs) failed to defend a 200+ total for the second time this season and with their next game against an in-form Multan line-up, it's a real cause for worry for the franchise.
Multan, however, do not have anything to worry about as they continue to smash and make new records this season. The defending champions have won six games on the bounce and are on the team to not drop a single match this season.
Their latest triumph came against Peshawar Zalmi, where they flexed their muscle to annihilate the latter by 42 runs.
Once again, the cornerstone for the victory was laid by openers Shan Masood (68 off 49 deliveries) as he stitched 98 runs in just 12.3 overs with skipper Rizwan.
Tim David continued his blistering form with a rapid 18-ball 34 as Sultans finished with 182/7. The total proved to be more than enough as Blessing Muzarabani (3/18 in 4 overs), Khushdil Shah (3/26 in 3.3 overs) and Shahnawaz Dahani (2/35 in 3 overs) ran through Zalmi's batting unit and knocked them over for 140.
So, can Rizwan & co continue their dominant run or will Lahore avenge their defeat earlier in the season to become the first side to beat Multan?
Match Details - Lahore Qalandars vs Multan Sultans, PSL 2022
Date: 11th February 2022
Time: 08:00 PM IST
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Broadcast: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, SonyLiV app and website
Pitch Report
Just like Karachi, the pitch at Gaddafi Stadium has proved to be batting friendly, with Quetta chasing down 205 with ease against Lahore. However, as Blessing Muzarabani and co showed against Zalmi, there is still enough in the pitch to keep the bowlers interested.
Squads:
Lahore Qalandars:
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Abdullah Shafique, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Daniyal, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun
Multan Sultans:
Mohammad Rizwan (c), Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Tim David, David Willey, Rumman Raees, Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Johnson Charles, Imran Khan, Abbas Afridi, Amir Azmat, Blessing Muzarabani, Ihsanullah, Rizwan Hussain.
Probable Playing XI:
Lahore Qalandars:
Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi ©, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Multan Sultans:
Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (C & WK), Tim David, Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Khushdil Shah, Anwar Ali, Abbas Afridi, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dahani
CE Fantasy XI:
Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Shan Masood (c), Fakhar Zaman, Tim David, Rilee Rossouw, Harry Brook, David Wiese, Khushdil Shah, Rashid Khan, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani
Captain: Shan Masood
Vice-captain: Fakhar Zaman