Multan Sultans beat Lahore Qalandars by 84 runs in Qualifier 1 of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Multan Sultans entered into their 3rd straight Pakistan Super League final. Mohammad Rizwan & Company posted the score of 160/5 in 20 overs. Lahore Qalandars could only manage to score 76 runs in response to 160 runs and got all out. 8 out of 11 batters of the Lahore Qalndars failed to cross the 2-digit mark. Sam Billings, David Wiese, and Haris Rauf scored the double-digit figure. Kieron Pollard is been awarded the Player of the Match Award for his crucial half-century. He also took 1 wicket for Multan Sultans.
Multan Sultans reach their 3rd consecutive PSL Final
Mohammad Rizwan took his team to the 3rd straight final of the Pakistan Super League. Multan Sultans will wait and watch to know their competitor for the final. Last year Rizwan and the company lost to Lahore Qalandars in the final of PSL 2022. In 2021, Multan Sultans won the PSL Title against Peshawar Zalmi. Multan Sultans are just one win away to win their 2nd Title and hopefully, they got to win it.
Lahore Qalandars surrendered against the opposition
Lahore Qalandars’ batting lineup just surrendered against the Multan Sultans’ bowling. They got all out for 76 runs and this is the lowest total of the PSL Playoffs ever. Sam Billings, Dived Wiese, and Haris Rauf could only manage to score the double-digit mark.
Sheldon Cottrell did not allow any Lahore Qalandars batter to settle down on the crease. He took the 3 quick wickets of the top order and break the backbone of the Lahore Qalandars. Lahore Qalandars were even not able to play their full quota of 20 overs and got out in 14.3 overs.
Now Lahore will wait to see who will against them in Qualifier 2. The winner of the eliminator between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi will face Lahore Qalandars to play against Multan Sultans in the PSL final 2023.
Kieron Pollards’ crucial 50 allow Multan Sultans to post 160
Former West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard smashed an important half-century in Qualifier 1 of the Pakistan Super League against Lahore Qalandars. He scored 57 runs from 34 balls with the help of 1 four and 6 sixes.
He completed his half-century in 31 balls with a strike rate of 167.64. Kieron Pollard smashed 3 sixes in an over against the Lahore skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 19th over. Pollard also thrashed Haris Rauf for 2 consecutive sixes in the 18th over of the game.
The late flourish from Kieron Pollard allowed his team to reach out to the respective total. Kieron Pollard was also awarded the Player of the Match Award for his all-around display of cricket. He served in Qualifier 1 with the bat and ball too. Kieron Pollard bowled 1 over in the match and took the wicket of Sikandar Raza.
The brilliant bowling display by Sheldon Cottrell
Multan Sultans pace bowler Sheldon Cottrell showed a brilliant bowling display. He took 3 wickets for just 20 runs from his 3 overs. Sheldon Cottrell provided the early major break to the Multan Sultans to keep Lahore Qalandars under the pressure. Mirza Baig, Abdullah Shafique, and Lahore skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi have been the victim of his wickets. This was the 2nd match of Sheldon Cottrell in the HBL PSL 2023 for Multan Sultans. In the last match, he went for plenty of runs but Mohammad Rizwan showed faith in him and gave him another opportunity. Sheldon Cottrell proved his selection right with his bowling figures.
