Twitter Reactions: Multan Sultans seal the top spot with a thrilling three-run win over Zalmi

It was another thrilling game in the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi fought hard before the former continued their winning run. After conceding 154, Peshawar Zalmi who seemed to be on track for a win lost their way at the death and crumbled in their chase.

Rahat Ali’s 3/24 restrict Multan Sultans to 154

It was Peshawar Zalmi who won the toss and put Multan Sultans in to bat first. The latter did have a decent start as the openers added 32 for the opening stand before wicket-keeper batsman Zeeshan Ashraf took the attack to the bowlers. Skipper Shan Masood played second fiddle as he along with Ashraf added 60 runs for the second-wicket partnership.

The 27-year-old stumper scored a half-century and looked good for more. However, he was dismissed in the 12th over with a score of 92. That’s where the collapse started as Rahat Ali who had picked up the first wicket struck twice in three balls. From 92/1, Multan crashed to 105/5. However, a 20-ball 30 from Khushdil Shah and a small cameo from Shahid Afridi helped them get to 154. Rahat Ali was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets. Mohammad Amir Khan, Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali picked one wicket each.

Wahab Riaz’s experiment at No. 3 fails

Chasing 155, Peshawar Zalmi didn’t have the best of starts. Kamran Akmal was knocked over by Mohammad Irfan in the second over. With the score reading 3/1, everyone was in for a surprise. It was Wahab Riaz who walked out to bat. However, that didn’t work for Peshawar as Sohail Tanvir got rid off him in the third over to leave them reeling at 8/2.

Imam-ul-Haq’s fifty in vain as Multan Sultans clinch a thriller

Imam-ul-Haq was watching all the early carnage unfold from the other end. However, he bided his time and compiled a well-fought half-century scoring 56 off 41 balls. The left-handed opener shared a 48-run stand with Umar Amin and a 70-run stand with Shoaib Malik. When Imam was dismissed in the 17th over, 29 runs were needed off 20 balls. It was Tanvir who had dismissed the set batsman.

Ali Shafiq and Tanvir bowled the last three overs and kept chipping away with wickets to put the brakes on the scoring. With 15 runs required in the final over, Shafiq bowled well and held his nerve to help Multan Sultans win by three runs. On the back of this win, Multan Sultans will finish at the top spot on the points table. Meanwhile, Peshawar Zalmi will need to depend on other results to await confirmation of their spot in the top four.

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