Peshawar Zalmi defeated Multan Sultans by 5 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium, as Naveen-ul-Haq held onto his nerves to win the match in the last over.
The toss for Match 9 was won by Babar Azam who chose to bat first.
Saim Ayub and Babar Azam came out to open the innings, while David Willey took the new ball. Due to the presence of swing, Willey bowled three wide deliveries in the first over, while Babar hit Mohammad Ali for two boundaries in the second over.
Saim’s wicket fell in the 4th over when he tried to hit his favorite ‘Pasli shot’ to Shahnawaz Dahani. The right-armer brought out his signature celebration after taking the wicket.
Coming at one down, Haseebullah started his innings by depositing the ball out of the ground against Dahani. Haseebullah smashed Iftikhar Ahmed’s off-spin for two maximums before captain Babar’s wicket fell to Usama Mir.
The left-hand batter continued his power-hitting, before falling to Mir for an 18-ball 37 (4×4 2×6). Usama Mir then took a blinder to dismiss Mohammad Haris for a run-a-ball 19 (1×4 0x6).
Next to perish was Rovman Powell, who fell for 23 (3×4 1×6) after playing at a strike rate of over 200. Luke Wood’s last-over antics resulted in Zalmi finishing at 179-8 in the 20 overs.
Fast bowlers David Willey (4-0-28-2) and Mohammad Ali (4-0-23-2) were the most impressive bowlers out of the lot.
Multan Sultans opened the innings with a new pair, Mohammad Rizwan and Yasir Khan. Yasir’s slow progress resulted in Rizwan going for a rash cover-drive, which resulted in his dismissal for a duck off Luke Wood.
Playing 75% of the powerplay balls, Yasir anchored Multan to 38-1 after 6 overs. Playing with a strike rate of 116, Yasir’s wicket fell in the 9th over; he got out for 43 (6×4 0x6).
Dawid Malan hammered Salman Irshad for 18 runs in the 12th over; indicating the start of the power-hitting. The Englishman fell in the 15th over when he gave a catch to the long-on fielder off Walter. Malan got out for a quickfire 52 (3×4 3×6).
South African batter, Reeza Hendricks, got out through a ‘Jaffa’ from Irshad. His polls dislodged for 28 (2×4 0x6). Debutant, Arif Yaqoob, bowled an exciting 17th over where he took 3 wickets, as well as concede 2 sixes. He got the wickets of Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir and David Willey.
Abbas Afridi tried his hand at completing the total, but couldn’t help the team. Naveen had to defend 22 runs from the last over. He conceded 16 off the first four balls, but his last two balls won the match. He dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed and Shahnawaz Dahani to win it for PZ.
Luke Wood remained the most successful bowler of the innings; his figures read 4-0-13-2. Luke Wood was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
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