KARACHI, Pakistan — Multan Sultans qualified for the fourth consecutive final of the Pakistan Super League by beating Peshawar Zalmi by seven wickets in a lopsided qualifying match on Thursday.
Multan won Pakistan’s first Twenty20 event of 2021 before losing to Lahore Qalandars in the final of the last two editions.
Peshawar, led by Babar Azam, will have another opportunity to qualify for Monday’s final when they face the winner of the qualifier between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators on Saturday.
Opening batter Yasir Khan and in-form Usman Khan powered Multan to 147-3 in 18.3 overs after Peshawar were restricted to a below-par 146-7.
In the absence of Afghan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, who was ruled out of the playoffs due to his international commitment, Peshawar’s bowlers struggled to defend a small total.
Yasir provided a dominant opening stand of 61 with captain Mohammad Rizwan and claimed a match-winning half-century off 30 balls. Left-arm bowler Mehran Mumtaz was unable to make an impact in the powerplay before finally having Yasir caught off his own bowling on his return.
Usman, who became the first batter in PSL history to score two centuries in a single season, was hardly bothered by pace, and Iftikhar Ahmed finished the match with a quickfire 22 from eight balls .
Earlier, Peshawar struggled against pace and spin after Babar won the toss and elected to bat. David Willey had the dangerous Saim Ayub caught at deep square leg in the first over and Mohammad Haris’ below-par tournament continued when he edged fast bowler Mohammad Ali in the powerplay.
Babar, the tournament’s top scorer, top-scored with 46 off 42 balls, but spinners Usama Mir and Ahmed stifled the batters in the middle overs.
Chris Jordan had Babar dismissed with a quick yorker in the 13th over and the Englishman tied the batters up in the death overs with his variations as Peshawar could only score 38 runs from the last five overs.
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