Multan Sultans Beat Peshawar Zalmi for Maiden PSL Title

Multan Sultans won their maiden PSL title after beating Peshawar Zalmi in the final on 24 June 2021 at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Peshawar entered the finals for the third time after reaching the title clash in 2018 and 2019. But they were unsuccessful in their bid to become PSL champions, for the third time running.

Sultans Make Sedate Start

Zalmi won the toss and put Sultans in, to bat. Sultans lost their first wicket when Shan Masood got out to Mohammed Imran after making 37 with the scoreboard reading 68 for 1. Skipper Mohammed Rizwan was joined at the wicket by Sohaib Masood, and the pair added 25 runs before Rizwan lost his wicket in the 11th over.

Match-Winning Partnershipp>Then came a partnership of 98 runs between Maqsood and Riley Rossouw and by the time Rossouw got out, with the scoreboard reading 181 for three in the 19th over, the platform has been set up for a daunting total. Sultans finished with 206 for 4 in which Maqsood top scored with 65 off 35 balls, while Rossouw made 50 from 21 balls. Masood and Rizwan contributed cameos of 37 and 30, respectively. At the halfway mark of the Sultans innings, Wahab Riaz appear to hold sway over the batsmen, but a dropped catch by Hazratullah Zazai in the 11th over when Maqsood had scored only six runs proved to be a nail in Zalmi’s coffin. Maqsood and Rossouw needed only 44 balls to add 98 runs to the total, helping Sultans add 124 in their last nine overs. Sameen Gul who claimed two for 26 was the only Zalmi bowler to impress. Like Gul, Mohammad Imran took two wickets.

Zalmi Falter After Solid Start

When Zalmi replied, they got off to a reasonable start, adding 42 runs for the first wicket before Hazratullah Zazai got out in the sixth over. But the fall of two more wickets with the scoreboard reading 58 in the 10th over was a setback from which Zalmi never recovered. Despite innings of 36 off 28 balls by Kamran Akmal and 48 from 28 balls by Shoaib Malik, aided by cameos of 23 by Roman Powell and 18 by Sherfane Rutherford, Zalmi were restricted to 159 for 9 in their allotted overs. For Sultans, Imran Tahir was the most successful bowler, taking 3 wickets for 33, while Imran Khan and Blessing Muzabarani took 2 wickets each. Sohail Tanvir also chipped in with a wicket.

Sultans’ Impressive Resurgence in Second Leg of PSL

Sultan made a strong comeback into the competition in the second leg in Abu Dhabi with four wins in their last five league matches. In the process, they handed Islamabad United, who were considered favourites, a shock defeat in the qualifier. In the first leg in Karachi, in February, Sultans registered only one win in five matches before the PSL was suspended after many support staff and players tested positive for COVID-19. Their come back in the competition was largely due to Sohaib Maqsood who scored 428 runs in the league season. Maqsood was declared man of the match for his unbeaten knock of 65 that helped Multan Sultans to their maiden PSL title.