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Multan Sultans romped to their fourth win in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and second consecutive across two days as they beat Rawalpindiz by seven wickets chasing the 183-run target in 16.2 overs in Lahore last night.
Rawalpindiz have now lost their first four matches in the tournament and will be looking for their first victory as they are set to play their remaining six league matches in Karachi.
Multan Sultans completed their fourth successful chase in the tournament with aplomb as Sahibzada Farhan and Josh Philippe scored aggressive fifties and also combined for a thumping century partnership. Shan Masood and Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 20s added the finishing touch.
With the ball, Faisal Akram shone bright dismissing Abdullah Fazal, Kamran Ghulam, Daryl Mitchell and Asif Afridi to collect figures of 4-31 – his best return across 26 T20s so far.
In the chase, Mohammad Amir struck in the second over of innings to remove the in-form Steven Smith for a run-a-ball five with Abdullah taking a brilliant catch at deep square. At this juncture Sahibzada and Philippe took it upon themselves to change the course of the game with a 58-ball 110-run stand. Sahibzada struck 68 off 38 balls striking four fours and five sixes, while Philippe’s 30-ball 56 stood on the back of six fours and three sixes. The duo helped their team collect 58 runs by the end of powerplay.
Later a four sixes laden 10th over, which also included Sahibzada’s hat-trick of sixes against Rishad produced 26 runs taking them to 110-1. With 73 needed off last 10 overs, the Sultans lost Sahibzada and Philippe in a space of 13 balls to right-arm pacer Mohammad Amir Khan and left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir, respectively. Shan and Turner hurried their team to victory with the skipper finishing the game with a four and six in the 17th over.
Earlier, Rawalpindiz were lifted to a competitive total by Sam Billings, who notched his fifth PSL fifty in his 400th T20 match, and was the only batter from his side to face more than 24 balls and cross the 35-run mark.
Billings’ 56 not out off 34 balls came after he entered the fray with Rawalpindiz 79-4 in 9.3 overs and were soon reduced to 94-5 in 12 overs with the wicket of Mitchell (17, 12b, 2x4s), who was caught and bowled by Faisal. From this point onwards, Billings struck seven fours and one six and stitched a brisk 17-ball 33-run stand with Dian Forrester for sixth wicket, a 13-ball 23-run stand with Asif Afridi (7, 6b, 1×6) and the most valuable ninth-wicket stand of 31 from 15 balls with Mohammad Amir Khan, who remained unbeaten on naught off two. Forrester showed off his big hitting skills by clubbing Mohammad Nawaz for three consecutive sixes in the latter half of the 13th over and then hit Mohammad Wasim Jnr for four in a 11-ball 24-run knock.
At the beginning of the Rawalpindiz innings, Mohammad Ismail castled Yasir Khan for a seven-ball five, while Arafat Minhas accounted for Mohammad Rizwan by trapping him leg-before for a 13-ball 19 comprising four fours. Ghulam injected the much-needed impetus to the innings albeit for a short time by striking three fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 35 after walking in at 15-1.
No.4 Abdullah struck a four and a six and looked threatening before his stay at the crease was cut short for an eight-ball 14 with Rawalpindiz 66-3 in 7.3 overs.
Faisal’s regular strikes in eighth, 10th and 12th over hamstrung the Rawalpindiz innings reducing them to 94-5 in 12 overs. Arafat returned another miserly spell of four overs giving away 22 runs and taking two wickets. Ismail and Peter Siddle picked up one wicket each.
BRIEF SCORES: Multan Sultans 186 for 3 (Farhan 68, Philippe 56, Amir 2-32) beat Rawalpindiz 182 for 8 (Billings 56*, Ghulam 35, Faisal Akram 4-31) by seven wickets
