Babar Azam, the captain of Peshawar Zalmi, won the toss and elected to bat first on a challenging pitch in Multan. The early blow came as Shahnawaz Dahani dismissed Saim Ayub, the in-form opener, in the fourth over. Despite this setback, Babar Azam and Haseebullah Khan built a strong partnership of 46 runs by the end of the powerplay.
Haseebullah’s impressive strike rate of 205 ended just short of a half-century when Usama Mir claimed his wicket in the 11th over. Paul Walter contributed a quickfire 16 runs in the 12th over before getting dismissed in the 13th. Multan’s disciplined bowling, led by David Wiley, slowed down the run rate and claimed crucial wickets, leaving Peshawar at 151/6 in 17 overs.
However, a late surge by Luke Wood pushed their total to 179/8 in 20 overs. In response, Multan Sultans faced an early setback with captain Mohammad Rizwan departing in the third over. Despite this, Yasir Khan and Reeza Hendricks built a solid partnership, taking the Sultans to 38/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Salman Irshad dismissed Yasir Khan, but Dawid Malan and Hendricks continued to propel the score with a 45-run stand for the third wicket. Malan’s exceptional innings of 52 off 25 balls guided Multan to 122/3 in 14.3 overs before he fell in the same over.
This is really unacceptable, Never expected this from Multan fans.. 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/MgZWQlO8oR
— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) February 24, 2024
Peshawar’s momentum shifted during the 16th over as Arif Yaqoob’s bowling, claiming 3/43, dismissed key batsmen Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, and David Willey. With 22 runs required from the last over, all eyes were on Iftikhar Ahmad, but despite conceding 16 runs, including two wides, Peshawar Zalmi emerged victorious by a narrow margin of five runs.
