Pollard, Cottrell strike as Multan tame Lahore by 84 runs to enter PSL-8 final

LAHORE: Kieron Pollard and Sheldon Cottrell sparkled with bat and ball as Multan Sultans defeated defending champions Lahore Qalandars by 84 runs in a thrilling Pakistan Super League-8 qualifier at Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday night. Chasing winning target of 161 runs, Lahore could muster only 76 and were all out in 14.3 overs — the lowest-ever PSL total scored on Pakistani soil. Lahore lost Mirza Tahir Baig (8) early after Cottrell enticed a huge swipe from the batsman, who edged one through to Mohammad Rizwan. Cottrell struck in the same over to trap Abdullah Shafique (0) in front of the stumps. Lahore were hoping that their star batsman Fakhar Zaman would lead the run-chase but that was not the case after the left-hander was clean-bowled by an inswinger from Anwar Ali. He scored six runs in seven balls. Cottrell also sent Shaheen Shah Afridi packing for a duck in the fifth over of the match. Hussain Talat (4) was sent back to the hut after a direct hit from Usman Khan left him short of the crease. Sikandar Raza (0) also departed soon after as Abbas Afridi took a stunning catch in the deep on the bowling of Pollard. This left Lahore reeling at 43-6 in the 10th over. The remaining wickets also fell without much resistance. Cottrell was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-20 in three overs.

Earlier, Pollard’s late blitz propelled Multan to 160 for the loss of five wickets. Pollard smashed six sixes in his 34-ball 57 and three of them came off the penultimate over, bowled by Lahore captain Shaheen. The left-arm pacer conceded 20 in that over and it went down his most expensive in the PSL history. Pollard took on the attack at the start of the 17th over when he smoked Shaheen for a six and smashed Haris Rauf for a six and a four, his only in the innings, in the next. Tim David smashed Zaman Khan for a six and a four in the 16th over to kick-start the onslaught after Lahore had managed to keep Multan batsmen quiet throughout the innings. Multan could muster 46 runs in the Powerplay and the introduction of Rashid Khan in the middle-overs further tightened the grip as they could score 51 in the next nine at the loss of three wickets. But over the last five overs, they added 63 to the total. The first wicket fell in the eighth over as Usman Khan (29 off 28) chopped on a slower ball from Haris, who was bowling his first over of the innings. Rilee Rossouw’s forgettable outing came to an end at the start of the 11th over when he was caught of Zaman and two overs later Mohammad Rizwan’s stumps were rattled by a Rashid googly. Lahore have another go at a berth in the final when they meet the winners of the first Eliminator between Islamabad Untied and Peshawar Zalmi on Friday (tomorrow).

Milestone for Rizwan:Multan captain Rizwan completed 500 runs in his 11th innings during the match against Lahore. The batsman has scored 500 runs in three consecutive editions of the PSL and has become the first player to score 500 runs in three editions of the tournament. Rizwan first scored 500 runs in PSL season 6 and then 546 runs in PSL season 7. Since his debut in PSL in 2016, Rizwan has played in 70 matches, accumulating 1,962 runs in 59 innings. He has hit one century (during the ongoing season) and 16 fifties. Rizwan also has 178 fours and 45 sixes to his name.