Another top performance from Usama Mir and a comfortable half-century from youngster Yasir Khan grabbed victory for Multan Sultans against Peshawar Zalmi in the qualifier round of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9.
Zalmi won the toss and elected to bat first in the game played at National Stadium Karachi on Thursday.
The ninth edition of the tournament saw last year’s finalists Sultans take on Babar Azam’s Zalmi side in the first dubbed semi-final.
The Zalmi innings were shaky after pacer David Willey dismissed opener Saim Ayub in the first over.
Skipper Babar and Mohammad Haris built the innings before the wicketkeeper gave away his wicket as Zalmi crossed the 50-run mark. The score kept ticking for the side as Babar and Tom Kohler-Cadmore crossed the 100-run mark. Chris Jordan then dismissed the Zalmi skipper with a pin-point yorker.
Cademore was dismissed, after scoring 24, by Mir in the sixteenth over and boundaries dried up for the Zalmi side. Rovman Powell struck two fours in the 17th over and was dismissed by Jordan in the next.
Luke Wood smashed Abbas Afridi for 12 runs in the 19th, as Jordan gave three runs in the last over to bring Zalmi’s total to a below-par 146.
Yasir Khan opened the Sultans’ innings alongside skipper Mohammad Rizwan and dispatched emerging Mehran Mumtaz over the ropes on the second ball of the first over.
A 60-run opening stand between the pair brought the required run rate below 7 as Ayub caught Rizwan at square.
Yasir and Usman kept rotating strikes as Yasir completed his half-century on 30 balls, a statement inning from the opener. He was dismissed by the emerging Mehran Mumtaz on 54.
The match became marginally interesting as Salman Irshad yorked Johnson Charles, who came to the crease after Yasir’s dismissal, after a couple of good overs from the Zalmi side where runs dried up for the Sultans.
But Iftikhar Ahmed’s three fours in the over brought the required run rate to 4.66. A simple task from there on as eight runs in the second last over sent the Sultans into the final of PSL 9.
Usama Mir collected the Player of the Match award for his exceptional bowling figures of two for 16 in his four overs.
The Zalmi side will now face the winner from the first eliminator today between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators.
Multan Sultans: Yasir Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Johnson Charles, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali
Peshawar Zalmi: Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Rovman Powell, Paul Walter, Aamer Jamal, Luke Wood, Mehran Mumtaz, Salman Irshad
