PSL 2023: Curtain raiser witnesses delayed start after floodlights catch fire

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 2023 got off to a shaky start on Monday at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan when the season opener between Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars being postponed by roughly 30 minutes due to an incident involving the fireworks before the opening ceremony.

The fireworks led to the floodlights catching fire, which delayed the start of the game. Later, the Lahore Qalandars defeated Multan Sultans by a narrow margin in a thrilling win to put the fire turmoil behind them.

The media and images posted on social media claim that the fireworks used at the 2023 PSL season's opening ceremony sparked the fire. Before the toss, there were alarming images as the fire department quickly arrived to put out the fire. No cases of anyone being harmed as a result of the incident have been documented.

Lahore Qalandars clinch nail-biting victory

Speaking of how the game panned out, both sides put up a magnificent show on display, but the defending champions Qalandars eventually clinched a victory. Winning the toss, Multan Sultans put Lahore Qalandars to bat first. Opening batter Fakhar Zaman dominated the show with his 42-ball 66, which was followed by Mirza Baig’s 26-ball 32. 

The duo handed their side a fiery start, but the Sultans lost some quick wickets in the middle which slowed their momentum. Eventually, they managed to put up 175/6 in their allotted 20-over quota. Sultans’ Ihsanullah and Usama Mir finished with two wickets each while Akeal Hosein and Shahnawaz Dahani picked up one wicket each.

Lahore Qalandars’ bowlers could not manage to do much at the start of the second innings as the Sultans’ opening batters- Shan Masood and skipper Mohammad Rizwan shared a brilliant 100-run stand before the former was dismissed. Rizwan kept adding runs on the scoreboard, but opposition skipper Shaheen Afridi got the better of him and dismissed him in the 16^th over.

The middle-order batters tried their best, and the game came down the wire to the final delivery, but the defending champions clinched a close one-run victory to kick-start their PSL 2023 campaign on a high note.

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