It was a night marked by opposites as Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans clashed to gain ascendency on the points table and Qalandars emerged victorious by 20 runs as they made better use of the opportunities that came their way in the rain-hit tie which was reduced to 13 overs each at the Gaddafi stadium on Friday night.
Naeem, Emon’s master blaster knocks down Sultans in rain-hit tie
By Muhammad Naeem Khan Niazi
LAHORE, Apr 04 (APP): It was a night marked by opposites as Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans clashed to gain ascendency on the points table and Qalandars emerged victorious by 20 runs as they made better use of the opportunities that came their way in the rain-hit tie which was reduced to 13 overs each at the Gaddafi stadium on Friday night.
Mohammad Naeem and Parvez Hossein Emon had a sensational start to the Qalandars innings, as they were put into bat by Sultans captain Ashton Turner as the openers amassed 86 runs off first 31 balls while they reached 156-3 in 10 overs. The top three batters for Qalandars gleaned runs at a remarkably fast pace with Player of the Match Mohammad Naeem plundered 60 (28) including four boundaries and as many sixes, Parvez Hossain Emon smashed 45 (19) laced with to boundaries and five 6s while Abdullah Shafique scored 33 (14) in a knock which was marked by three boundaries and two 6s.
Naeem and Emon pounced, racing to 50 in 3.2 overs and ending the shortened 3.5-over powerplay at 66 without loss. Emon provided destructive blows early on, targeting Mohammad Nawaz for two sixes and a four in the fourth over before taking Faisal Akram for three consecutive sixes at the start of the next. He departed after blistering two fours and five sixes in his knock in the sixth over, caught at deep mid-wicket off Ismail.
Dropped on 16 by Arafat Minhas, Naeem made the Sultans pay, combining with Abdullah Shafique (33,14b,3x4s,2x6s) to maintain the onslaught.
At 134 for one after eight overs, the Qalandars looked on course for a total close to 200.
Bangladeshi top-order batter Emon was the aggressor in chief for Qalandars as he 45 off just 19 balls and his knock defined the pace of the match and Qalandars looked all set to reach 200 plus by the end of the 13th over but it was some remarkable bowling display by Peter Siddle 3-0-26-1 when other bowlers were taken to the cleaners by the batters. Fielding effort was no better than the bowling as Sultan went on miss many chances and closed the innings with five overthrows.
The Sultans clawed back impressively in the final five overs, conceding 51 while taking four wickets. Ismail (3-0-47-2) removed Abdullah in the ninth over, while Akram had Naeem caught at mid-wicket in the next after striking four fours and as many sixes. Peter Siddle then bowled Rubin Hermann two overs later and Asif Ali was run out in the last over of the innings.
Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 13 off eight, including back-to-back boundaries off the innings’ final two deliveries, pushed the Qalandars to 185 for five, aided by 23 extras including 14 wides.
Lahore Qalandars scored a gigantic 185-5 in 13 overs and the total looked insurmountable from the beginning as Multan sultans leaked too many runs to overhaul. Sultans started the bowling with five wides from the first ball of the match by Muhammad Ismail while the last ball of the innings also ended with five overthrows.
If the Qalandars batters batted with ferocity and intent, the start of Sultans innings, chasing 186 at an average of over 14 runs per over, was the opposite and their mainstay so far Sahibzada Farhan 24 (15) and Steve Smith 9 (10) did not match the heroics put up by the Lahore openers. Josh Phillipe 1 (2) fell cheaply. On the other hand Qalandars attack led by captain Shaheen Shah Afridi was up to the mark from the beginning as Ubaid Shah and Mustafizur Rehman bowled with accuracy and purpose and had shared one wicket each when Sultans were down to 50-3 in 33 balls.
Sultans could never recover from the early disadvantage although Shan Masood 44 (18) and captain Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 52 (22) played cameos to give some hope of a miracle to overhaul the mountain of a total but it was not so. By the time Arfat Minhas holed out to deft bowling by Sikandar Raza on the penultimate ball of the match Sultans fate was decided.
If the Qalandars middle order did not do what the top-order had achieved, Shan Masood and captain Ashton Turner did in the middle order for the Sultans. Shan Masood, with the fall of three wickets for 50, then launched a counter-attack, blazing 44 off just 18 balls with seven fours and a six to bring Multan back into the contest. However, Mustafizur (3-0-37-2) struck again in the 10th over, trapping the left-hander leg-before-wicket to leave the Sultans at 100 for four.
Turner refused to surrender, smashing an unbeaten 52 off 22 deliveries laced with two fours and five sixes. He found an ally in Arafat Minhas (25, 11b, 1×4, 2x6s) and their fifth-wicket stand of 57 off 20 balls briefly raised Multan’s hopes but in vain.
Defending champions Lahore Qalandars inflicted first defeat on Multan Sultans in the HBL Pakistan Super League 11 as they romped to a 20-run victory while defending 185 in a rain-shortened 13-over match here at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday night.
After a delay of nearly two hours due to persistent rain, Ashton Turner won the toss and chose to bowl in a contest reduced to 13 overs per side.
Debutant pacer Mohammad Ismail conceded 26 runs in the opening over, including 10 in wides, setting a new record for the most expensive first over in HBL PSL history.
Scores in brief:
13 overs per side
Lahore Qalandars 185-5, 13 overs (Mohammad Naeem 60, Parvez Hossain Emon 45, Abdullah Shafique 33; Mohammad Ismail 2-47)
Multan Sultans 165-5, 13 overs (Ashton Turner 52 not out, Shan Masood 44, Arafat Minhas 25, Sahibzada Farhan 24; Mustafizur Rehman 2-37).
