Sports Desk
LAHORE: Table toppers Multan Sultans Tuesday inflected a 60-run defeat on defending champions Lahore Qalandars, making it the sixth consecutive loss of the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led side during the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine.
After posting 214 for the loss of four wickets, Multan restricted Shaheen’s men to 154 to bag a 60-run win.
Usama Mir was the star with the ball for Multan, picking 6/40 in his four-over spell. His figures are the fourth best in the competition’s history. While chasing, Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan looked firm in partnership for the first wicket by scoring 54 runs but there were no major contributions after their dismissals.
Fakhar faced a searing yorker to get bowled by Aftab Ibrahim after adding 23 runs from 16 deliveries
Farhan (31) showcased an impressive batting performance before ultimately falling victim to a delivery by Khushdil Shah.
The early wickets added pressure, but Rassie van der Dussen tried to stabilise the innings but he didn’t get much support. Kamran Ghulam and Sikandar Raza followed suit, both falling victim to Faisal Akram with scores of 12 (off 9 balls) and 17 (off 7 balls) respectively.
Skipper Shaheen Afridi could only manage to add 9 runs to the total before being stumped by Usman Khan off a delivery by Usama Mir. The middle order collapsed, and despite a late surge by Carlos Brathwaite, who remained unbeaten with 14 runs off 7 balls, the team were bowled out for a total of 154 runs in 17 overs.
Earlier, Usman Khan played a commanding innings of 96 runs to help Multan post a massive total of 214-4 against Lahore.
In their first match of PSL 9 away from home, Multan chose to bat first. However, Lahore made an early breakthrough with captain Shaheen Afridi dismissing opposing captain Mohammad Rizwan in the opening over.
However, the Sultans staged a quick comeback with a brilliant 70-run partnership between Reeza Hendricks and Usman Khan before Sikandar Raza removed the former.
Hendricks contributed a 27-ball 40, featuring seven boundaries, including one six.
Khan continued his aggressive play and formed a dominant partnership with Tayyab Tahir, accumulating 77 runs in just 40 balls for the third wicket.
Tahir managed only 21 runs and was dismissed by Carlos Brathwaite with the scoreboard reading 151 in 15 overs.
Iftikhar Ahmed joined Khan and wreaked havoc with a scintillating unbeaten cameo of 40 runs from 18 balls, including two boundaries and three sixes.
Khan, on the other hand, scored 96 runs from 55 balls, adorned with 13 boundaries, including two sixes, falling short of a century as he got out in the final over.
Multan Sultans concluded their innings at 214-4 in their allotted 20 overs.
For Lahore Qalandars, Afridi led the bowling attack with figures of 2-39, while Raza and Brathwaite claimed one wicket each.
