The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That brings us to the end of our coverage of the first PSL game this year. It took a longer while than most game to be completed, but it went down to the final delivery! As always, we will be back with plenty of cricket tomorrow! This is Rajarshi, signing off on behalf of myself and Mohul. Good night!
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Lahore Qalandars captain: We managed to get a good start. We have 8 or 9 options with the ball. Zaman did really well to close things out. All we needed to get back in the contest was that one wicket. We want to improve on the fielding department.
Mohammad Rizwan, Multan Sultans captain: At one stage, there was a feeling that we would get there easily. But it was their fast bowlers who delivered when they needed the most. This is what cricket is known for. Shaheen and Haris open the bowling for Pakistan, credit to them for delivering at a crucial time.
Fakhar Zaman, Player Of The Match: The wicket was a lot different to the way we read it at the start. The wicket was aiding the pacers quite a lot. With the kind of bowlers we had, 175 seemed like a great total.
Fakhar Zaman 66 (42) | Hussain Talat 1/16 (2) Mohammad Rizwan 75 (50) | Usama Mir 2/25 (4)
While they started off better than their opponents in the powerplay tonight, they just could not kick on in the middle overs. Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood saw off the threat from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf early on, and then proceeded to target Zaman Khan and Sikandar Raza to get to the 50-run mark within the first six overs. It was Raza and Liam Dawson's spin which helped the Qalandars sneak back in it. David Wiese bowled a quiet over or two, and then, it was Hussain Talat who provided the Qalandars with the much-needed scalp.
Shan Masood, having struggled to find the boundaries more often, tried to chip Talat over fine leg and was caught. Miller and Rizwan then went on to shorten the equation down in a major way. 27 runs came off the following couple of overs after Masood's departure, and it seemed like the Sultans were running away with it. Rizwan, having been guilty of consolidationg for too long, got in on the act with a towering six off Talat.
Lahore Qalandars still had a total of four overs remaining from both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, and that was where they won the game! Shaheen delivered the perfect yorker to knock Rizwan over, and then, both the Pakistan pacers went on to do a tremendous job of containing two big names in David Miller and Kieron Pollard with some splendid death bowling. Pollard managed to cut loose in the penultimate over, keeping the hopes of the Sultans alive. Zaman Khan was handed the final over, and he kept his composure, landed it close to the blockhole, and got the Qalandars past the line!
The Lahore Qalandars triumph in a humdinger! Over rates aside, it has been a great start to the 2023 Pakistan Super League! The crowd at Multan might be gutted with the local team's performance, but they got their money's worth! The Lahore Qalandars take the game by a solitary run!
20
overs
174/6score
1
1W
W
2wd
1W
4
4
13
runs
Khushdil Shah*
12(6)
Akeal Hosein
0(0)
Zaman Khan
3/29
19.6
4
Zaman Khan to Khushdil Shah, FOURMORE! BUTLAHOREWIN! Fullish outside off, moves away. Shah swings away at it and gets a top edge that goes over backward point for a boundary! However, it does not matter anymore as Lahore have won this game by one run! Absolute scenes out there!!!
Video
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M Rizwan
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Khushdil Shah
*
Zaman Khan
Multan Cricket Stadium
