Babar Azam's Peshawar Zalmi Crushes Rizwan's Multan Sultans to Keep Play-off Hopes Alive

Babar Azam and Co. have risen to the occasion as they require straight wins in order to qualify for the playoffs. They have secured back-to-back wins, beating the out-of-form but dangerous Multan Sultans comprehensively. Mohammad Rizwan and his team lost yet another match, making it eight out of nine this season.

Toss and Team News

Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and decided to bat first.
Peshawar Zalmi XI: Mitch Owen, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam (cap), Mohammad Haris (wk), Hussain Talat, Max Bryant, Maaz Sadaqat, Luke Wood, Alzari Joseph, Ahmed Daniyal, Ali Raza
Multan Sultans XI: Yasir Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (cap & wk), Shai Hope, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Amir Barki, Ashton Turner, Shahid Aziz, David Willey, Faisal Akram, Mohammad Hasnain, Ubaid Shah

Bowling masterclass by PZ bowlers derails MS batting order

Multan Sultans’ batting performance has been far below par this season. Having lost 7 of their previous 8 matches, Multan Sultans had little to lose, but they still seemed under pressure. Muhammad Yasir, the only positive aspect of Sultans’ season, went early while trying to sweep Saim Ayub, while Rizwan was caught brilliantly by Daniyal.

It was a downhill journey after that for MS, as one after another their batters were dismissed. While a couple of them got starts, none were able to convert them into big scores. Tayyab Tahir and Shai Hope reached the twenties but couldn’t capitalize. The rest of the batting order collapsed in the wake of some brilliant bowling by PZ bowlers.

It was a collective bowling and fielding effort by Peshawar Zalmi. All six of the bowlers used got in the wickets column, with Ahmed Daniyal claiming three. Maaz Sadaqat, who was bowling for the first time in PSL, was superb and took 2 wickets with an economy of 4. Luke Wood took 2 wickets as well, dismissing Multan Sultans for just 108.

Saim Ayub finally shows up with the bat

Saim Ayub has been disappointing with the bat so far this season. His return from injury was hurried and he has failed to make an impact. Though he has been delivering with the ball, his bat has been missing runs. Today, however, we saw glimpses of the old Saim, as he held his nerves while his partners kept changing. Mitchell Owen and Babar Azam both failed to stay on the pitch and were dismissed for 1 and 8 respectively.

Max Bryant lived up to his reputation, as he stayed long enough to win the match with a boundary. He first formed a good partnership, playing the supporting role, but soon went into attacking mode after Saim was dismissed for 49. He scored three consecutive boundaries off Ubaid Shah to win the match, remaining unbeaten on 38.

Bowling by Multan Sultans was poor, and so was the captaincy by Rizwan. After taking the wicket of Mitchell Owen in the first over, David Willey was taken off and didn’t bowl another over in the match. Ubaid Shah, on the other hand, bowled three overs and gave away 43 runs. Shahid Aziz was the only bowler to create some problems for PZ batters, finishing with 2 for 17 in his 3 overs.

Man of the Match

Ahmed Daniyal bowled superbly, finishing with 3 for 17. He also took 3 catches, including a superb effort to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan. He won the Man of the Match award for his brilliant performance.