Match Reports

The all-important final of the HBL PSL 6 was played between the two best teams, Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans. Both the teams were in great form in their previous matches. Multan Sultan won only 1 match from their first 5 matches and then came back to smash all other teams to become the first finalist of the PSL 6.

On the other hand, Peshawar Zalmi defeated Karachi Kings in Eliminator 1 and the table topper Islamabad United in Eliminator 2. Hazratullah Zazai has been in phenomenal form during the playoffs of this year’s PSL. He replaced David Miller in their squad after Miller left PSL for national duty.

Toss

Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first.

Playing XIs

Multan Sultans remained unchanged after defeating Islamabad United. Their complete playing XI was Muhammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanveer, Blessing Muzarabani, Imran Tanvir, Imran Khan, and Shahnawaz Dahani.

Peshawar Zalmi made 1 change in their XI. Umaid Asif was left out after he didn’t follow the strict SOPs along with Haider Ali. Haider is no more a part of the Pakistan national team too as he is been replaced by Sohaib Maqsood.

Peshawar Zalmi’s complete XI was Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Hazratullah Zazai, Jonathan Wells, Shoaib Malik, Rovamn Powel, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Muhammad Imran, Sameen Gul, and Muhammad Irfan.

Multan Sultans Won The Powerplay

Skipper Muhammad Rizwan opened the innings with Shan Masood after Wahab Riaz put them in front of his strong bowling. Shan faced the first over bowled by Sameen Gul. Gul bowled the wide ball straight away. Then he made came back and bowled 6 consecutive dots to Shan.

Muhammad Rizwan took the charge on the tall man Muhammad Irfan and smashed him for a four in his first over and a six in his second over. These boundaries kept the momentum with Multan Sultans. Sameen bowled another good over to Shan, who was been unable to play him.

In Sameen’s third over Shan Masood hit him for 3 boundaries and shifted back the pressure. Multan Sultans scored 43 runs in their powerplay without a loss of any wicket. Wahab bowled the next over after powerplay and was smashed for 10 runs by Muhammad Rizwan.

Rossouw And Sohaib On Charge

Shan spent a lot of time and crease and played the shots all around but a slow delivery from young Muhammad Imran got rid of him. Imran bowled a slower ball on the stumps, Shan tried to loft it but an inside edge got to ball to his stumps. In Imran’s second over he removed Muhammad Rizwan as well. Rizwan scored a total of 500 runs in this year’s PSL and he is second in the leading run-scorer list.

After 11 overs Multan Sultans were 83 for 2. Both the teams were in the best position right now. Wahab and Rizwan, both were almost happy with the situation. But Rossouw and Sohaib turned the table with their sensational partnership in no time.

In meantime, Rilee Rossouw took the responsibility and played a sensational inning for 50 runs in just 20 balls. Sohaib Maqsood completed his 50 in 25 balls. Rilee scored 13 runs against Muhammad Imran to get the rhythm but was removed by Sameen in his last over.

Good Finish For Multan Sultans

Multan Sultans were 180 for 2 after 18 overs. Both the set batsman was on the crease in form of Sohaib and Rossouw. Rossouw played a reverse swipe that went straight up to Muhammad Irfan and he lost his wicket. On the very next ball, Sameen bowled the yorker to new man Johnson Charles. Charles missed it completely and lost his wicket too.

Amad Butt came to bowl the last over and started with the no-ball. Khushdil smashed the free hit for a big six. This six was followed by another maximum. Rutherford tried his best to stop it but stepped on the boundary cushion. Multan Sultan finished at 206 for 4 in their 20 overs.

Muzarabani Got Rid Of Zazai Early

Peshawar Zalmi came with a strong mindset to chase the target. Kamran Akmal charged on the bowlers straight away. After 5 over Zalmi was 36 without loss of any wicket. All of that score was scored by Kamran Akmal. Till then Zazai had played 3 balls and only scoring 0 runs.

Muzarabani bowled the sixth over and Zazai founded an opportunity there. He smashed Muzarabani for a gigantic six on the leg-side to open his account. On the very next ball, Muzarabani made a comeback and bowled a slower ball. Everyone knows that Zazai is not that good at slow balls. The Plan worked and Multan got the big fish.

Wickets Kept Falling for Zalmi

After Zazai’s wicket, Imran Khan clean bowled Kamran Akmal as well who was looking so well. Imran bowled at a good length, the ball swang a bit inside and went straight into Kamran’s stumps. Zalmi becomes 42 for 2 in no time. Malik kept the scoreboard running by hitting a few boundaries.

The required run rate was almost 13 for Peshawar Zalmi. In this pressure situation Malik called for a double and a perfect through from Rilee Rossouw dismissed Jonathan Wells. Powel put some partnership with Malik but Muzarabani got rid of him as well. Zalmi became124 for 4 after 14 overs.

Multan Won By A Big Margin

70 runs were required in the last 5 overs. It was a doable job as Shoaib Malik was set on the crease with 48 runs in 27 balls along with Sherfane Rutherford, who is on the number 3rd Most six-hitting list of this year’s PSL. Sohail Tanveer came to ball the 16th over and the experience of Malik came on on one with Tanveer’s experience.

Tanveer won the battle and kept Sultans at the upper edge by dismissing Malik. Rutherford hit a couple of sixes but Imran Tahir removed 3 Zalmi batters in just 4 balls. Zalmi fell from 137 for 4 to 151 for 8 in just 12 balls. Zalmi managed to score only 159 runs and Multan Sultans became the CHAMPIONS OF THE HBL PSL 6.

HBL PSL 6 Awards Winners

Player of the tournament

Sohaib Maqsood won the Player of the Tournament award after playing plenty of match-winning knocks for his team throughout the event.

Best Batsman of the tournament

This award was won by Sohaib Maqsood too for his 428 runs in the tournament with a strike rate of 156. He also hit 22 sixes in this year’s PSL which was the second most after Asif Ali.

Best Bowler of the tournment

Shahnawaz Dahani, the Larkana sensation, won this award after taking 2 wickets in the tournament and became the leading wicket taker.

Best Wicketkeeper of the tournament

Without any doubt Muhammad Rizwan won the award for his 500 runs in the tournament along with 19 dismissals behind the stumps.

Best Fielder of the tournament

Iftikhar Ahmed was declared as the best fielder of the tournament as he took 9 catches in 12 games. His catch per match ratio was 0.750.

Match Summary

Multan Sultans		206/4(20 Overs)
Sohaib Maqsood	65(35)*	Sameen Gul	26/2 (4 Overs)
Rilee Rossouw	50(21)	Muhammad Imran	47/2 (4 Over)

Peshawar Zalmi		159/9(20 Overs)
Shoaib Malik	48(28)	Imran Tahir	33/3 (4 Overs)
Kamran Akmal	36(28)	Blessing Muzarabani	26/1 (4 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Peshawar Won, Elected field
MOM	Sohaib Maqsood
Umpire	Aleem Dar Ahsan Raza
3rd Umpire	Asif Yaqoob
Match Refree	Muhammad Anees

PSL 6 Final Highlights

PSL is on its way to sums up as the results of all the matches have just finished other than finals. The eliminator 2 of the HBL PSL 6 was played between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United last night. Islamabad had already lost their first match of playoffs against Multan Sultans which was Qualifier 1.

Islamabad’s team summed up even before 150 runs. The think tank of Multan Sultans made a great strategy to tackle the long batting lineup of United. On the other hand, the Zalmi is been in super form courtesy of Hazratullah Zazai. Zazai has played a total of 4 matches and won Man of the match in 3 of them.

In eliminator 1 Zazai finished the game in no time for Zalmi to sent Karachi back to home.

Eliminator 2 Rules

Eliminator 2 of HBL PSL is played between the winner of Eliminator 1 and the loser of Qualifier 1. The winner of this game qualifies for the finals while the loser gets the ticket to the home. Talking of the current eliminator of the PSL United and Zalmi were facing each other and the winner was all set to face Multan Sultans in the finals.

Toss

Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first.

Playing XIs

As expected Islamabad benched Husain Talat and gave chance to Brandon King, the remaining team was the same. The complete XI of United was Shadab Khan, Colin Munro, Usman Khawaja, Muhammad Akhlaq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Fahmee Ashraf, Brandon King, Hassan Ali, Muhammad Wasim Jr, and Akif Javed.

Zalmi made a couple of changes in their XI this time. As they have been suffering from a good batsman at number 2 so after trying Haider Ali and Imam ul Haq, this time they tried the overseas sensation, Johnathan Wells. Also, Usman Khalid was left out as he was replaced by very talented all-rounder Amad Butt.

Their complete XI was Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Hazratullah Zazai, Johnathan Wells, Shoaib Maik, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Umaid Asif, Muhammad Imran, and Muhammad Irfan.

United Lost Early Wickets

With two left-handers on the crease, Wahab Riaz called Shoaib Malik to ball the first over. Shoaib didn’t strike as the bowler but he did the job as a fielder. Colin Munro pushed the ball back to Malik and the ball hit the bowling side stumps after hitting Malik’s boot. This dismissed Usman Khawaja.

The next over was bowled by the emerging fast bowler Muhammad Imran. On the last ball of his over, he bowled a quick bouncer to Muhammad Akhlaq, who was on strike. Akhlaq tried to pull the ball over the leg side but the outside edge threw the ball in the air and Kamran Akmal took a simple catch behind the stumps.

Islamabad United got some rhythm at the end of the powerplay as Colin Munro and Brandon Kings keep the things going. Munro smashed 19 runs in the first over of Umaid Asif. United ended the powerplay at 57 for a loss of 2 wickets.

Zalmi Kept Batsman in Hands

Zalmi think tank had the complete plan to handle the long batting lineup of United. They kept taking wickets to keep the score as low as they can. Amad Butt, the new inclusion, came to ball the 8th over and he delivered straight forward. Brandon King played the pull shot on the bouncer bowled by Amad but founded Umaid on the deep and Zalmi got another breakthrough.

Munro kept his show in he was on 44 as he tried to smash the big man Muhammad Irfan but the ball went straight to Kamran Akmal. The umpire gave it a not out but Kamran Akmal convinced Wahab Riaz on the very last second to take the review and this review paid them off in form of Munro’s Wicket.

After this Wahab Riaz dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed on 10 off 12 balls and followed by him Umaid removed Shadab Khan on 15 off 16 balls. Both of these dismissals were caught behind. After just one delivery Umaid got rid of Asif Ali as well and this sums the complete batting lineup of Islamabad United.

Hassan Ali Show At Abu Dhabi

Islamabad United was 110 for 7 when Hassan Ali came out to bat. There were still 27 balls left in the innings but Zalmi was having a great time out there as they were restricting United to a very low score. Zalmi was unaware of what’s coming on their way next.

The next over was bowled by Wahab Riaz which was a wicket maiden over. Wahab dismissed Faheem Ashraf this time. So United remained 110 for 8 after 16 overs too. In the next over Hassan fancy Umaid Asif and smashed him all over the ground.

After Hassan, Muhammad Wasim Jr joined the party as well. Hassan scored 45 runs in just 16 balls while Muhammad Wasim scored 17 off just 11. United finished 174 for 9 in their 20 overs.

Terrible Start For Hassan Ali in Bowling

After smashing Zalmi’s bowlers in his batting Hassan came on to ball the first over. He started with the no-ball of the boot and that ball went to the boundary as byes too. The next ball was the no-ball as well followed by a six on the free hit. But on the last ball of his over he bowled Kamran Akmal to bounce back into the game.

Jonathon Wells and Hazratullah Zazai kept going slow and steady as they had already got 15 runs from the first over so there was no need to hurry the innings. Both the players managed to play the complete powerplay and finished the powerplay at 48 with the loss of 1 wicket only.

Both the players were going at the same strike rate but in meantime, Wells smashed 2 sixes to Shadab Khan. This gave a kick to Zazai as well and he started his show too. This 100+ partnership ended as Zazai was bowled by an inside edge to the stumps.

Malik’s Sensation Ended The Game

Zazai finished his innings on 66 runs from 44 balls with 4 sixes and 6 fours. The game was straightforward now and the stage was set. The set batsman Jonathan Wells was still on the crease and Shoaib Malik was the new batsman to walk in.

Malik can’t hold for a long time to finish the game so he started to fire up and sums up the innings. Malik finished at unbeatable 32 runs of just 10 balls and Peshawar qualified for the finals with 19 balls remaining.

Hazratullah Zazai won the man of the match award again. This was his 3rd Man of the Match award in 4 games. He has scored 3 fifties in 4 games only.

Predictions

We predict that Multan will beat Zalmi in the finals and will lift their first-ever trophy. Toss will play a very vital role in finals.

Match Summary

Islamabad United		174/9(20 Overs)
Hassan Ali	45(16)	Wahab Riaz	35/2 (4 Overs)
Colin Munro	44(29)	Umaid Asif	44/2 (4 Over)

Peshawar Zalmi		177/2(16.5 Overs)
Hazratullah Zazai	66(44)	Muhammad Wasim	32/1 (3 Overs)
Jonathan Wells	55(43)*	Hassan Ali	43/1 (3.5 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Peshawar Won, Elected field
MOM	Hazratullah Zazai
Umpire	Aleem Dar Asif Yaqoob
3rd Umpire	Rashid Riaz
Match Refree	Muhammad Anees

Highlights

The first do-or-die match of the HBL PSL 6 was played last night between Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. Karachi Kings are not been in good touch in the UAE leg of this year’s PSL. They started from the number 1 position and still took their all games to qualify for the playoffs. Karachi is being dependent on Babar Azam a lot.

On the other side, Zalmi is still finding their best combination. Haider Ali failed in all the games he played and Imam ul Haq didn’t impress too. The spinners sometimes perform well and often leak too many runs. Also, replacements have been a big issue.

Eliminator Rules

The eliminator of the HBL PSL is played between the teams that are at number 3rd and 4th on the points table. The loser of this match goes home while the winner faces the loser of Qualifier 1. This is the first knockout match of the playoffs. There is no way back after losing this game.

Toss

Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to field first to chase the target.

Playing XIs

Both the teams made plenty of changes in their playing XI for the all-important match. Peshawar Zalmi’s XI was Wahab Riaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal, Imam ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powel, Sherfane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Khalid Usman, Muhammad Imran, and Muhammad Irfan.

Karachi Kings’ playing XI include Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Shrjeel Khan, Martin Guptil, Chadwick Walton, Danish Aziz, Thisara Prera, Muhammad Illyas, Muhammad Amir, Arshad Iqbal, and Noor Ahmed.

Slow And Steady Start For Karachi

Karachi Kings started slowly in the beginning. Babar Azam along with Sharjeel Khan just kept running the scoreboard slowly by saving the wickets but Sharjeel was unable to hold his nerves for this long. He started to play his natural game. After hitting 5 boundaries Muhammad Irfan dismissed him as the ball hit Sharjeel on his pads.

This was the first wicket for Zalmi. Karachi Kings ended their powerplay at 41 for 1 but Babar was still on the crease that was the plus point for Karachi Kings. Sharjeel scored 26 of 20 balls with 5 fours. In the next over Umaid Asif Strikes too. He took Martin Gutptil’s wicket on duck and Martin Guptil’s failure in PSL 6 continued till the last game.

Imad Wasim promoted Danish Aziz after his heroic knock in the last game. But he managed to score only 13 this time as the tallest cricketer in the world Muhammad Irfan returned him to the pavilion.

Babar Unable To Carry His Innings

Three wickets fell for Karachi Kings in no time. They were 73 for 3 after 11.2 overs with Babar still there. Thisara Perera was the new man on the crease. He smashed the first ball for the boundary. Karachi finished the 12th over at 78 runs. Babar was at 34 runs in 36 balls.

After being too slow Babar charged the emerging fast bowler Muhammad Imran. Babar smashed Muhammad Imran for three consecutive boundaries and pushed his strike rate up. He completed his fifty runs in 42 balls by playing gentle push to Khalid over off-side.

Karachi was hoping for Babar to carry his innings now and end up with a brilliant total for Karachi but nothing happened like this. Babar lofted Wahab Riaz, trying to hit a six, but didn’t manage to get the whole of it. Rovmen Powel had the catching practice at the boundary line and Babar lost his wicket after scoring 53 of 45 balls.

Thisara Perera Played His Vital Role

The replaced guy Thisara Perera took the responsibility to lead Karachi to the fighting total. He started hi hitting by smashing a four the Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz. In the next Perera fancy Khalid Usman and hit him for 22 runs with 2 boundaries and 2 big maximums.

This over of Usman shifted the momentum from Zalmi to Kings. After this Perera hit Umaid for a six too but Umaid bounced back on the next ball and sent Perera back to the pavilion. Perera did his role quite well and gave the momentum to Kings.

After Perera Zalmi lost another wicket of Chadwick Walton. Imad Wasim scored 16 runs off 9 balls in the end and lost his wicket to Muhammad Imran. Karachi finished their innings at 175 with the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. Babar Azam leads the innings with 53 runs followed by Perera’s quick 37.

Zazai Played Heroic Knock

Hazratulah Zazai is the recently replaced played that joined Peshawar Zalmi. He scored the joint-fastest fifty in his debut PSL match against Karachi in just 17 balls. This time the opposition was the same and Zazai did the same job too. The first ball edged his bat and went to the boundary line.

This was the first and only chance given by Zazai to Kings. Amir came to ball the next over and Zazai dismissed him a big six on the leg side. That six was followed by a boundary too. After Muhammad Amir, Zazai took charge of Muhammad Ilyad and Arshad Iqbal and smashed them out of the ground.

The other Afghan guy in the Karachi XI, Noor Ahmed, came to ball and Kamran Akmal smashed him for 2 consecutive boundaries. After that Noor strike back and bowled Kamran Akmal to get the first breakthrough for Karachi. But the dangerous man Zazai was still on the crease.

Zazai completed his fifty runs by a big six to Imad Wasim. He scored his fifty of just 23 balls with a massive strike rate of over 200. Peshawar Zalmi was 70 for 1 after playing 7 overs only. Zazai scored 77 runs in just 38 balls with 5 massive sixes and 10 fours. He lost his wicket on the slower one from Thisara Perera.

Karachi Took Match To The Last Over

After Zazai’s knock, the stage was set for Zalmi to finish the game in no time but Karachi kept the game in hands and took it to the last over. After losing a couple of wickets Wahab sent Usman along with Malik on the crease. By promoting Usman up the order he saved the important wickets of power hitters.

Shoaib Malik kept going slow and steady and kept the game in his hand. After 17 overs Peshawar Zalmi was 154 for 3 as Usman hit Amir for a massive six on the last ball of his 3rd over. Peshawar needed just 22 runs in the last 3 overs. It was a straightforward task but the drama happened again.

Usman and Malik, both the players, lost their wickets as Muhammad Amir got his first wicket in the UAE leg of the HBL PSL 6. 7 runs were needed off the last over that was supposed to be bowled by Muhammad Ilyas. Rutherford missed few shots but Karachi Kings dropped him twice in the final over. At last, he hit the boundary and finished the game by taking the single.

Predictions

We predict that Peshawar will win the game against Islamabad and Multan will face Zalmi again in the finals. Multan to win the finals.

Match Summary

Karachi Kings		175/7(20 Overs)
Babar Azam	53(45)	Muhammad Irfan	21/2 (4 Overs)
Thisara Perera	37(18)	Wahab Riaz	29/2 (4 Over)

Peshawar Zalmi		176/5(19.5 Overs)
Hazratullah Zazai	77(38)	Thisara Perera	10/2 (2 Overs)
Shoaib Malik	30(25)	Muhammad Ilyas	30/1 (3.5 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Peshawar Won, Elected field
MOM	Hazratullah Zazai
Umpire	Aleem Dar Shozab Raza
3rd Umpire	Asif Yaqoob
Match Refree	Muhammad Javed

Highlights

The all-important Qualifier of HBL PSL 6 happened last night. The two top teams of the PSL 6 points table faced each other at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Islamabad United is being impressive throughout the PSL while Multan Sultans, lead by Muhammad Rizwan, struggled in the Karachi leg but impressed everyone in the UAE leg to book the second spot for them.

Qualifier 1 Rules

Qualifier 1 is the first game to be played in the playoffs of the PSL. The two teams that finish at the top of the points table face each other in this game. This match is the only one from playoff matches that is not knockout in nature. The winner of this competition goes to the finals straight away while the loser gets another chance in qualifier 2.

The loser faces the winner of the eliminator. Eliminator is played between the number 3rd and 4th team of the points table. Qualifier 2 is a knockout match. The winner gets a chance to play the final while the loser gets the home ticket.

Toss

Multan Sultans won the toss and elected to bat first and put a big score in front of United.

Playing XI

Both the teams tried their bench when they meet last time. But for this, the all-important game both the teams came up with full strength. Islamabad’s Playing XI was Shadab Khan, Colin Munro, Usman Khawaja, Muhammad Akhlaq, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Muhamamd Wasim Jr, and Akif Javed.

Multan Sultans XI was Muhammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Sohaib Maqsood, Johnson Charles, Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanveer, Imran Tahir, Imran Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, and Shahnawaz Dahani.

Sohaib Maqsood’s Charge

Hassan Ali opened the innings for Islamabad United and Shan Masood hit him for a boundary in the second ball. Akif Javed came to ball the next over and bowled a wide ball. Rizwan tried to edge the ball down the ground to get the boundary but hit the ball with his gloves and Muhammad Akhlaq took a simple catch.

Umpire Ahsan Raza didn’t give him out but Shadab Khan took the review after Akhlaq and Akif convinced him. This review paid back to United well as they got the wicket of second-leading run-scorer of the HBL PSL 6. Then came the big man, Sohaib Maqsood, the 3rd in leading run-scorer list of this year’s tournament after Babar and Rizwan.

Sohaib came on the crease and just started the charge on the United bowlers. He played a beautiful shot all over the ground. Starting with a lofted cover drive to Faheem for a boundary. In the same over, Sohaib hit Faheem for a total of three boundaries. Then he smashed Akif Javed for a six with a flick over leg gally.

Multan Sultans completed their fifty runs in 6.5 overs. Shan Masood smashed Shadab Khan for two consecutive boundaries but lost his wicket on the very next ball. In the same over Shadab got Rilee Rossouw as well.

Charles And Khushdil Finished In Style

Charles swiped the ball for a boundary on the very first ball to introduce himself. On the other hand, Sohaib Maqsood continued the charge on the United bowlers. He completed his fifty runs in just 32 balls with a beautiful six to Hassan Ali. At that time Charles was at 41 of 20 balls.

Charles lost his wicket in the next over after playing a quick inning for his team. He scored 41 with a strike rate of 195.2. Khushdil Shah was the new man to came out on the crease. He smashed the six in the very first over that he faced. In meantime, Sohaib changed his gloves and lost his wicket of Faheem Ashraf’s slow ball.

Khushdil Shah along with Sohail Tanveer faced the 19th over. Tanveer hit a boundary on the first ball and rotated the strike. After that Khushdil Shah changed the game by smashing 4 consecutive sixes to Akif Javed. 29 runs came of over number 19 which is the 3rd most expensive over of PSL history. Muhammad Wasim bowled brilliant last over and conceded only 6 runs.

Multan managed to score 180 runs in their 20 overs with the loss of 5 wickets. Sohaib Maqsood was the star with 59 runs in 41 balls followed by Johnson Charles’s 21 balls 41 and Khushdil’s unbeatable 42 of 22 balls.

Early Strikes From Tanveer

The experienced Sohail Tanveer bowled the first over of the innings. Usman Khawaja took the single to rotate strike. Sohail clean bowled Colin Munro on the first ball with a quick yorker. In meantime, Imran Khan’s brilliant fielding dismissed Muhammad Akhlaq with a direct hit on the stumps.

In the same over Shadab Khan tried to drive the ball but the ball went straight to Shan Masood at gully. In this way, United suffered from a bad start courtesy of Tnaveer’s brilliance. Two batsmen of Islamabad United got the ducks in just the first three overs.

Usman Khawaja took the responsibility of Islamabad United on his shoulders. Islamabad scored only 38 runs in their powerplay with the loss of 3 important wickets. The was still not that difficult for Islamabad because of their batting depth.

Khawaja’s Knock Gone In Vain

Khawaja along with Iftikhar took the responsibility and charged Sultans. Khawaja smashed few boundaries to keep the game going. Their partnership was of 40 runs. In meantime, Iftikhar didn’t manage the short ball from the tall man Blessing Muzarabani and edged the ball to Muhammad Rizwan.

Islamabad was now 54-4 after 8.1 overs. The required run rate was climbing up and wickets didn’t stop falling. Asif Ali used his feet and tried to hit Tahir but missed the ball and Rizwan stumped him in no time. Islamabad was now 74 for 5 after 12 overs. There was still a long way to go.

Usman Khawaja completed his fifty in 32 balls by hitting 2 boundaries to Imran Khan. In the next over of Muzarabani, Khawaja smashed 20 runs and United bounced back into the game. But Sohail Tanveer got rid of him as well. Khawaja scored a brilliant 70 of just 40 balls with 1 six and 9 boundaries.

After Khawaja, none of Islamabad’s batsmen stayed at the crease. One after another lost their wickets. In the 19th over Islamabad’s whole team finds the dust and Multan all out them for just 149 runs to win the competition by 31 runs and qualify for the finals.

Predictions

Our predictions for the remainder of the playoffs of the HBL PSL 6 is that Peshawar will face Multan Sultans in the finals and Multan will win it.

Match Summary

Multan Sultans		180/5(20 Overs)
Sohaib Maqsood	59(41)	Shadab Khan	25/2 (4 Overs)
Khushdil Shah	42(22)*	Faheem Ashraf	35/2 (4 Over)

Islamabad United		149(20 Overs)
Usman Khawaja	70(40)	Sohail Tanveer	17/3 (4 Overs)
Husain Talat	25(25)	Blessing Muzarabani	31/3 (4 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Multan Won, Elected Bat
MOM	Sohail Tanveer
Umpire	Ahsan Raza Rashid Riaz
3rd Umpire	Aleem Dar
Match Refree	Muhammad Javed

Highlights

The very crucial match between Karachi and Quetta was played last night. Quetta was already out of PSL 6 but Karachi was still having some chance to qualify for the playoffs. Karachi needed to win the match against Quetta to qualify for the playoffs and kick Lahore out of PSL 6.

Karachi is depending a lot on Babar Azam in their last matches. Whenever Babar failed to score Karachi lost the game badly without having any competition. But nothing happened like this last night.

Toss

Karachi Kings won the toss and elected to bat first.

Playing XI

Karachi made only one change in their paying xi while Quetta made plenty of changes in their squad.

Karachi Kings’ playing XI was Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Martin Gutil, Najeeb Zadran, Chadwick Walton, Danish Aziz, Muhammad Amir, Muhammad Illyas, Noor Ahmed, and Arshad Iqbal.

Quetta Gladiators’ Playing XI was Sarfaraz Ahmed, Jake Weatherald, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Abdul Nasir, Jack Wildermuth, Hassan Khan, Khurram Shehzad, Naseem Shah. In this manner, Quetta was playing with 3 emerging players.

Sharjeel And Babar Won The Powerplay

Sharjeel Khan, who is been out of form in the UAE leg of PSL 6, started the powerplay in his aggressive style. He smashed Jake Wildermuth for each six in his both overs. Babar was in good knick as well. Wildermuth’s first two overs leaked 20 runs that gave strength to Karachi Kings.

Karachi finished the powerplay at 42 runs without losing any wicket. The next over was bowled by Hassan Khan, both Babar and Sharjeel hit him for four and Sharjeel hit him for two sixes in his next over as well. Karachi was 71 for none at the end of 9 overs.

Babar lofted the first ball of Abdul Nasir’s third over but found Hassan Khan at the boundary line. So Babar Azam missed his form this form and didn’t manage to get a bug score. Sarfraz bought Arish Ali into the attack and he dismissed Martin Guptil in no time.

Karachi’s Middle Order Failed

After getting the wicket of Martin Guptil, Arish got the danger man Sharjeel, as well as Arish clean, bowled him. Shaejeel scored 47 runs off 34 balls with 4 sixes and 3 fours. After Sharjeel, Arish got the afghan batsman Najeebullah Zadran as well.

Chadwick Walton smashed Arish for few boundaries but in no time Arish bounced back and got Imad’s wicket too. Imad tried to clear the straight boundary but founded Hassan Khan again. This was a brilliant spell from Arish Ali that handled Karachi’s middle-order quite easily.

Danish Aziz’s Brilliance

Karachi was 122 with the loss of three wickets after 17 overs. No one was expecting more than 150 scores at that time but Danish Aziz changed the game. He smashed 13 runs in his first five balls to get Karachi to 136 runs.

Next over was expected to be bowled by Jake Wildermuth, who was already smashed by Sharjeel earlier. Danish Aziz hit for four on the first ball followed by four consecutive sixes. The timeline of that over was 4 6 6 6 6NB 2 2. This was the most expensive over ever bowled in HBL PSL history.

Khurram Shehzad dismissed Danish Aziz after his 13 balls 45 runs innings. Karachi’s final score was 176 runs. Hassan Khan and Jake Wildermuth conceded most runs in their quota. Wildermuth conceded 53 while Hassan conceded 40 runs.

Quetta Unable To Build Partnerships

Saim Ayub and Jake Weatherald started the innings for Quetta Gladiators. Weatherald is already in some good touch as he had scored some odd 40s twice in his 4 innings. Saim Ayub was playing his second game in the UAE leg. He was middling the bowl so well as he smashed 2 sixes and a boundary.

Muhammad Ilyas dismissed Saim as Walton took his catch behind the stumps. After him, Weatherald smashed few boundaries but again lost his wicket without building the partnership. The young lad Asrahd Iqbal took the wicket of Weatherald cleaning his stumps out of the ground.

Usman Khan along with Sarfraz Ahmed took Quetta to 72 runs after 10 overs. But again Muhammad Ilyas got the breakthrough and the small partnership was broken.

Quetta’s Middle Order Failed Again

Azam Khan was the last hope of Quetta gladiators. Azam smashed only 1 four and a six after that he lost his wicket of Arshad Iqbal’s delivery after scoring 15 runs in 12 balls. Azam Khan only scored 80 runs in 58 balls in his 5 innings of the UAE leg. His selection in the Pakistan team is now under observation again.

Hassan Khan and Sarfaraz Ahmed fought for Quetta this time and this was the last hope, not only for Quetta but Qalandars too. Hassan Khan scored 24 runs in 15 balls to keep the game alive but got run out.

In the end, Sarfaraz Ahmed smashed few boundaries to complete his 50 runs but these runs were too few to finish the game as victories. Quetta managed only 162 runs and Karachi won the match by 14 runs to qualify for the playoffs.

Changes In Points Table

HBL PSL 6 points table was finalized after this match. Quetta finished last for the first time in PSL history while Karachi managed to get into the top 4. Lahore Qalandars finished after losing 4 consecutive games at number 5.

Check points table here.

Match Summary

Karachi Kings		176/7(20 Overs)
Danish Aziz	45(13)	Arish Ali Khan	28/4 (4 Overs)
Sharjeel Khan	45(34)	Abdul Nasir	15/1 (4 Over)

Quetta Gladiators		162/6(20 Overs)
Sarfraz Ahmed	51(33)*	Muhammad Ilyas	39/3 (4 Overs)
Jake Weatherald	25(24)	Arshad Iqbal	39/2 (4 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Karachi Won, Elected Bat
MOM	Danish Aziz
Umpire	Shozab Raza Asif Yaqoob
3rd Umpire	Ahsan Raza
Match Refree	Muhammad Javed

The biggest rivalry of PSL history happened last night as Lahore Qalandars came in front of Karachi Kings. Both the teams are still fighting to find a spot in the playoffs of the HBL PSL 6. If Karachi had lost the match against Lahore last night the equation should have been simplified but nothing happened like that it’s still complex.

The competition right now is between Lahore, Multan, and Karachi for the playoffs. Multan is now the only team to have two matches left all other teams except Peshawar has one match left each as Peshawar had already played all of their matches.

Toss

Karachi Kings won the toss and elected to bat first after watching the big scoring game match 26 between Islamabad and Peshawar.

Playing XIs

Karachi Kings made 2 changes while Lahore made only 1. Karachi brought in Danish Aziz and Muhammad Illyas. Lahore tried Agha Salman and benched Zeeshan Ashraf.

Complete XI of Qalandars was Sohail Akhtar, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Hafeez, Agha Salman, Ben Dunk, Tim David, Rashid Khan, James Faulkner, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Ahmed Daniyal.

Karachi’s XI was Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Martin Guptil, Danish Aziz, Chadwick Walton, Najeebullah Zadran, Abbad Afridi, Muhammad Amir, Noor Ahmed, and Muhammad Illyas.

Babar Azam’s Dropped Catches

Sharjeel Khan started the innings with a boundary to Shaheen Shah on the very first ball. Sharjeel was timing the ball so well in the powerplay he smashed Shaheen for a six too. In Shaheen’s second over he lofted the ball towards the leg side but found Tim David at the boundary line who took his catch.

Karachi was the first team to survive James Faulkner and not giving him any wicket in his powerplay overs. They survived him quite brilliantly. Haris Rauf came to ball the 5th over of the powerplay, he bowled two dots to Babar Azam and Babar lofted the next ball into the sky. Zaid was the fielder behind the ball to take the catch of Babar but he dropped a sitter.

Martin Guptil Getting His Form Back

Before tonight’s match, Martin Guptil’s highest score in PSL 6 was only 11 but he suddenly started to find some good timing. He smashed his first HBL PSL six to Haris Rauf in the same Over in which Babar was dropped. He kept going after this six and hit a total of 3 sixes in his innings.

Ahmed Daniyal bowled the 13th over and Babar Azam hooks him towards deep gully but Haris Rauf dropped him again. After that drop, Martin Guptil hit Ahmed for a six but on the very next ball Ahmed cleaned him up with a beautiful delivery on the stumps.

Guptil played a knock of 43 runs in 30 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours. At the time of his wicket, Karachi was 109 with a loss of 2 wickets. The stage was now set for Babar and company to start the fireworks against Lahore Qalandars.

Karachi With A Brilliant End To The Innings

After Martin Guptil, Najeebullah Zadran came out to bat who is a left-hander. Skipper Sohail Akhtar called Muhammad Hafeez straightly. We all know how much good is Hafeez against the left-handers and kept his legacy going. He got the wicket of Zadran on the very first ball as Ben Dunk took the catch behind the Stumps.

After Zadran’s wicket, Babar Azam’s catch dropped again at a point. This was the 5th chance missed in total to dismiss Babar Azam. After that Rashid Khan bowled out Chadwick Walton and in the same over Babar Azam lost his wicket too as Muhammad Hafeez took his catch comfortably this time.

After losing 3 quick wickets Imad and Danish Aziz took the responsibilities. Imad lead from the front and took Karachi to 176 runs with his quick 30 runs while Danish Aziz scored 16 of 10 deliveries. Rashid was the best bowler with 2 wickets for 25 runs.

Lahore Looked Good In The Poweplay

Fakhar Zaman started the innings on a high note and smashed two sixes to Imad in the first over. Sohail Akhtar was timing the ball beautifully as he smashed 4 boundaries in his innings. Illyas got his wicket early the review from him saved him. But again Illyas was the man who got his wicket and in the same manner as LBW.

Muhammad Hafeez hit Illyas for a six on the very first ball that he faced. Lahore managed a good score in the powerplay with a loss of only 1 wicket. Imad introduced himself in the attack after 8 overs and he bowled Fakhar Zaman in no time.

Imad Along with Noor Ahmed bowled their spells together. Imad also used Danish Aziz with Noor as Lahore was struggling against the spinner. Muhammad Hafeez who is usually too good against spinner was unable to control the googly and flippers and Noor Ahmed. On the last ball of Noor Ahmed’s spell, Hafeez lost his wicket. Before him, Noor also dismissed Ben Dunk.

David And Faulkner Fought For Qalandars

After Muhammad Hafeez’s wicket, Lahore Qalandars was 83 with a loss of 5 wickets. There was still a long way to go to win the match and there were no set batsmen on the crease now. Tim David was joined by Aussie all-rounder James Faulkner.

Faulkner charged Muhammad Illyas hit him 2 consecutive sixes and then Tim David hit him for a six too on the juicy full toss. Faulkner’s first six was 79 meters while the next one was 83 meters. Tim David hit Illyas on a wider ball two consecutive times the first time it was a dot ball but the next time Danish Aziz took the catch and Tim David returned to the pavilion.

Faulkner hit and Rashid Khan were having the charge on the crease but Faulkner lost his wicket. 3 sixes were required of the last 3 balls. Rashid swings his bat for a six followed by a boundary at the leg side. In this way, Karachi managed to get a victory by 7 runs and kept their hopes alive for the playoffs.

Changes In Points Table

Lahore Qalandars stayed at number 3 followed by Multan while Karachi Kings are still at number 5. Karachi and Lahore have now only match left while Multan have 2 matches as mentioned earlier.

Check complete HBL PSL 6 points table here.

Match Summary

Karachi Kings		176/5(20 Overs)
Babar Azam	54(44)	Rashid Khan	25/2 (4 Overs)
Martin Guptil	43(31)	Muhammad Hafeez	4/1 (1 Over)

Lahore Qalandars		169/7(20 Overs)
Muhammad Hafeez	36(36)	Noor Ahmad	19/2 (4 Overs)
Tim David	34(14)	Muhammad Illyas	41/2 (4 Over)

Match Details
Toss	Karachi Won, Elected Bat
MOM	Noor Ahmad
Umpire	Ahsan Raza Asib Yaqoob
3rd Umpire	Aleem Dar
Match Refree	Muhammad Anees

Lahore, Multan, and Karachi are fighting to qualify for the playoffs while Islamabad and Peshawar had some great fights among them for the first position on the points table. A record-breaking match was played last night between the two giants of PSL 6.

Islamabad United was the first team to qualify for the playoffs of the HBL PSL 6. The young team lead by Shadab Khan is impressing everyone throughout their PSL journey from season 1 to the current season. While Zalmi is having a great time in PSK too. They have played 3 finals and won 1 of them.

Toss

Peshawar won the toss and decided to field first.

Playing XIs

Both the teams made a couple of changes in their squad as some overseas players left PSL for the national duties. Peshawar Zalmi replaced David Miller with Hazratullah Zazai from Afghanistan who scored joint-fastest PSL half-century in his debut match. Waqar Salamkheil joined them too.

Islamabad United’s skipper Shadab Khan wasn’t a part of the playing XI last night. Their complete XI was Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Brandon King, Muhammad Akhlaq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Zafar Gohar, Hassan Ali, Fawad Ahmed, and Akif Javed. Usman Khawaja was leading the side.

Peshawar Zalmi’s playing XI was Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal, Imam ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powel, Sherfane Rutherford, Umaid Asif, Wahab Riaz, Abrar Ahmed, Sameen Gul, and Waqar Salamkheil.

Islamabad Won The First Poweplay

Captain Khawaja opened the innings with the danger man Colin Munro. Both the openers played a sensible knock and kept the innings going. Islamabad tried Abrar Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, and Sameen Gul in the powerplay but none of them got the breakthrough.

Islamabad managed to get 54 runs in the powerplay without a loss of any wicket. Islamabad United charged Zalmi just after the powerplay. They fancy Abrar Ahmed and hit for 21 runs in his second over. They finished the over at 75 runs with all wickets in hand.

Shoaib Malik Got The First Wicket

Skipper Wahab Riaz tried Shoaib Malik to get the breakthrough as both the batsman on the crease were left-handed. Malik’s first over leaked 11 runs while in the second over he bowled out Colin Munro on the fifth ball. Islamabad United Changed the batting order this time.

Iftikhar Ahmed performed in the last match but they sent Asif Ali up the order to smash the ball all over the ground and did the job too. Asif Ali faced Abrar Ahmed after coming on the crease. He smashed him for 16 runs in his over and kept the momentum along with him.

Khawaja’s Brutal End To The Innings

Usman Khawaja completed his fifty runs in the 12th over. His fifty came into 35 balls only. Islamabad at that time was 123 for 1 with well set Khawaja and Asif Ali on the crease. The 13th over was bowled by Sameen Gul, Asif smashed him 3 sixes and a four in the first 4 balls and lost his wicket on the next ball after playing a brilliant and quick knock of 43 in just 14 balls.

Khawaja along with Brandon King smashed 19 runs in the next over of Salamkheil. After that Khawaja smashed Wahab Riaz for 3 consecutive and a total of 4 boundaries in his over. United were 199 for 2 at the end of 17th over. They smashed 48 runs in their last three overs.

Khawaja faced the last over when he was at 84 runs. He smashed the first ball for a boundary and the next two for sixes to bring up his first HBL PSL century. Islamabad finished at 247 for two in their 20 overs. Sameen and Umaid conceded over 50 runs in their 4 overs while Abrar conceded 48.

Zalmi Started The Chase With Strong Mindset

In front of this huge target, Zazai tried to took the charge of the very first ball but missed the middle of the ball. Hassan Ali took a fabulous catch to dismiss the hero of the last match. Kamran Akmal took the responsibility to chase down the target on this batting track. He smashed boundary on the first ball to introduce himself.

Imam ul Haq tried to loft the ball but misjudged it and lost his wicket on the 8th ball played by him. On the other hand, Kamran kept the charge on. Shoaib Malik was the new man to come on the crease. Kamran took Zalmi to 88 runs in 9 overs and lost his wicket at the last ball of the over. He scored 51 runs in just 31 balls.

Shoaib Malik was on the crease and Rovman Powel joined him. There was still a lot of batting left. No doubt Fabien Allen left Zalmi but still they had got some power in their middle order.

Malik And Co Kept The Game In Hands

Malik is being too good against the spinner throughout his career and he did the same in the last game. He charged Fawad Ahmed and Salamkheil to keep running the scoreboard. Rovamn Powel lost his wicket after playing 14 runs innings in 11 balls. Malik completed his fifty runs in just 26 balls.

Zafar Gohar came to ball the next over and Rutherford smashed him for 30 runs in no time. This was the second most expensive over of the HBL PSL history. In the next over Hassan Ali’s brilliance got rid of Rutherford with a slower ball. Rutherford scored 29 runs in just 8 balls.

Malik lost his wicket too but the hopes were still alive as Peshawar were 185 for 5 in 16 overs. 63 runs were required for the last 22 balls. Umaid Asif and Wahab Riaz fought till the last over as 23 runs were required in that over. They managed to score only 7 in the last. Zalmi scored 232 in this amazing run chase. Zafar Gohar conceded 65 runs and Fawad Ahmed conceded 51 runs. Hassan Ali saved the game by conceding only 30 on this sort of pitch.

Changes In Points Table

Islamabad United will finish as the table toper in this year’s PSL. While Peshawar will be last only if Lahore Qalandars will lost to Multan Sultan otherwise Lahore will replace them at second position.

Check complete Points table.

Match Summary

Islamabad United		247/2(20 Overs)
Usman Khawaja	105(56)*	Shoaib Malik	14/1 (2)
Colin Munro	48(28)	Sameen Gul	56/1 (4)

Peshawar Zalmi		232/6(20 Overs)
Shoaib Malik	68(36)	Akif Javed	43/3 (4)
Kamran Akmal	53(32)	Hussain Talat	37/2 (4)

Match Details
Toss	Peshawar Won, Elected Field
MOM	Usman Khawaja
Umpire	Rashid Riaz Shozab Raza
3rd Umpire	Ahsan Raza
Match Refree	Muhammad Anees

The race for the playoffs is still on. The competition is between the Sultans of Multan and the Kings of Karachi. Islamabad has already qualified while Peshawar and Lahore are well set to qualify again for the ahead stage. While Quetta has no more chances of qualifying in this year’s playoffs.

Quetta Gladiators beat Lahore Qalandars in match number 23 with their brilliant bowling. Last night they came one on one in front of Muhammad Rizwan’s Multan. The Sultans are fighting too well in the UAE leg of this year’s PSL as they have won all of their matches in the UAE.

On the other hand, Quetta is no more in the race of qualifying. Karachi lost to Islamabad badly and is now at number 5. The best in the business Babar Azam suffered the injury too. Multan has now more chances to qualify as they have 8 points now while Karachi has 6. Both the teams have played 8 matches each.

Toss

Quetta Gladiators won the toss and without any hesitation Sarfraz decided to field first.

Playing XIs

Both the teams made one change each. Zahir Khan joined Quetta while Johnson Charles joined the Sultans, other players remained the same.

Quetta’s XI was Sarfraz Ahmed, Jake Weatherald, Usman Khan, Cameron Delport, Azam Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Hassan Khan, Muhammad Hasnain, Khurram Shehzad, and Zahir Khan.

Multan Sultan’s XI was Muhammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanveer, Blessing Muzarbani, Imran Tahir, Imran Khan, and Shahnawaz Dahani.

Multan Sultans Openning Stand

The first 6 overs of the powerplay belong to Multan Sultans. The skipper Muhammad Rizwan was struggling a bit but Shan Masood was really in a good knick. Sultans scored 50 runs in the powerplay without losing any wicket. out of which 35 runs were scored by Shan from just 21 balls.

Emerging gun Khurram Shehzad provided the first breakthrough to Quetta Gladiators. He bowled a quick delivery closed to stumps, Rizwan tried to hook the ball but an inside edge took the balls towards the stumps. This happened on the very first ball of the 9th over.

The opening partnership between Muhammad Rizwan and Shan Masood was 72 runs in 8.1 overs @8.82 runs per over. Rizwan scored 21 runs in 23 balls and became the leading run-scorer of HBL PSL 6 again. He received the green cap in the post-match press conference.

Charles Gave Multan The Best Finish

Charles came on to crease when Multan Sultans were 88 for 2. Sohaib Masood, who is in a good form too, lost his wicket on this team. Shan Masood and Charles continued the fireworks for Sultans. Shan Masood hit 2 consecutive sixes to Hassan Khan. After 2 balls he went for another six but miscued the timing and Muhammad Hasnain took a simple catch at the boundary line.

From there Charles took his team to a good total. He scored 47 runs in just 24 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours. His strike rate was 195.8. Along with him, Khushdil Shah did the job at the end of the innings, he scored 20 of 18 balls. Multan Sultan ended up on a very good total of 183 with a loss of 5 wickets.

Imran Khan’s Double Strikes In One Over

Pakistan’s test fast bowler, Imran Khan, took the charge of Quetta Gladiators. He was hit for a big six in the very first ball of his over by Jake Weatherald but on the very next ball he bowled him on the god length and an outside edge took the ball towards Muhammad Rizwan behind the stumps.

After one ball bowled, Cameron Delport left his crease to hit Imran Khan for a big shot but Khan bowled a slower delivery, and Delport misjudged it. The ball went to Tanveer who took an easy catch. Multan Sultans were in charge now.

Usman Khan lost his wicket as a result of bad communication with Sarfraz Ahmed. Sarfraz called him for a run because of miss field but Usman didn’t run straight away. Sarfraz asked him again to run and he lost his wicket. Quetta’s powerplay finished at 36 runs with the loss of 3 wickets.

Quetta’s Tram Wrraped In No Time

Quetta Gladiators were not going that much bad in the powerplay but their worst time started after the powerplay. Azam Khan threw his wicket on the slip and Sarfraz lost his wicket in no time as well.

The next over was bowled by Imran Tahir who finished the game in no time. On the first ball, he dropped the catch of Hassan Khan but the ball hit straight to the bowler’s side stumps and Muhammad Nawaz got run out. On the very next ball, Hassan lofted the ball straight to Rilee Rossouw. 3rd ball was the flipper that hit Khurram Shehzad on his pads and he lost his wicket too.

With these 3 wickets in just 3 balls, Quetta’s XI was at 59 for 8. Usman Khan Shinwari scores 7 runs that took Quetta to 73 runs but still, this was their lowest ever score in HBL PSL history. Multan Sultan won the game with 110 runs.

Changes In Points Table

Multan Sultans became in the best position of qualifying with 8 points in 8 matches. There are now at number 4 in the points table. On the other hand, Quetta’s journey of HBL PSL ended here as they lost their 7th match of this season.

Check complete points table here.

Match Summary

Multan Sultans		183/4(20 Overs)
Shan Masood	73(42)	Khurram Shehzad	26/2 (4)
Johnson Charles	47(24)	Hassan Khan	16/1 (1)

Quetta Gladitors		73(12.1 Overs)
Jake Weatherald	19(10)	Imran Tahir	7/3 (2)
Sarfraz Ahmed	13(16)	Imran Khan	13/2 (2)

Match Details
Toss	Quetta Won, Elected Field
MOM	Shan Masood
Umpire	Aleem Dar Shozab Raza
3rd Umpire	Asif Yaqoob
Reserve Umpire	Faisal Afridi

Quetta Gladiators, the last team of the HBL PSL 6 points table so far, faced Lahore Qalandars in Match number 23 of PSL season 6. Sarfraz Ahmed’s Quetta is been gathered by defeats throughout this year’s PSL. After winning only one match throughout this season, Quetta targeted to beat Lahore Qalandars and have another victory to their name.

On the other hand, Qalandars are been in super form in UAE leg of PSL. They lost their last match against Islamabad United but still were at the second place of the points table. Qalandars need to win only one more match to qualify for the playoffs.

Toss

Lahore Qalandars won the toss and elected to field first. Whenever Lahore has won the toss in this season they have decided to field.

Playing XIs

Quetta made three changes in their squad and gave chance to some local players like Hassan Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari, and Zahoor Khan. Quetta’s complete playing XI was Jack Weatherald, Usman Khan, Cameron Delport, Sarfraz Ahmed, Azam Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Hassan Khan, Usman Shinwari, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Hasnain, and Khurram Shehzad.

Qalandars remained unchanged as they played against Islamabad United. No doubt they lost their last match but still decided to go with the same combination. Qalandar’s complete playing XI was Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Muhammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk, Tim David, Rashid Khan, James Faulkner, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ahmed Daniyal, and Haris Rauf.

Quetta Started With Blistering Powerplay

Sarfraz Ahmed decided to have some changes in the batting order as well. He asked Jake Weatherald to open the innings for the first time in HBL PSL and he delivered too. In Shaheen’s first over Ball hit Jake Weatherald’s bat and Ben Dunk caught it behind the stumps but no one appealed so, Weatherald survived.

In the next over James Faulkner strike. Usman Khan lofted the ball trying to clear to the boundary but the ball traveled straight to Tim David at the boundary line. James Faulkner is been impressive throughout for Lahore in the UAE leg. Right now James Faulkner has got 11 wickets in this year’s PSL after playing only 4 games. He is also at number 5 in the leading wicket taker’s list.

Cameron Delport was the new lad to come at the crease. He and Weatherald held their nerves and survived throughout the powerplay and scored well too. Jake Weatherald was the main star of the powerplay for Quetta Gladiators. He made his mind to fancy Ahmed Danial, the emerging bowler, and he did his job quite well.

Hafeez Being Too Good Against Left-Handers

We all know how good is Professor Muhammad Hafeez against the left-handed batsman. Captain Sohail Akhtar straight away called him to the ball along with Rashid Khan to get rid of these two foreign batsmen from Quetta. Rashid Khan bowled out Cameron Delport and in the very next over Muhammad Hafeez bowled out Jake Weatherald.

The left-handed generation from Chris Gayle to Jake Weatherald has now suffered the bowling quality of Muhammad Hafeez. He is been exceptional against left-handers throughout his career. The reason is his natural angle against left-handers. Hafeez himself once said, “Left-handers have always had difficulty facing me. However, I have bowled well to right-handers as well. If you look at my economic rate, it’s the same against both. I dismissed one of my favorite batsmen, Brian Lara, as well.”

Azam’s Firework Took Quetta To Fighting Score

The big man, Azam Khan, struck well last night as he hit Rashid Khan for a six and a boundary. Also, hit Haris Rauf badly in his second over. He scored 33 of just 18 balls with six and 5 fours. James Faulkner took his wicket as Azam tried to hit a slower one for a six, Fakhar Zaman took a simple catch at long-on.

Muhammad Nawaz lost his wicket too. In the next over Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled a bouncer to former Pakistan’s Captain Sarfraz Ahmed. That bouncer hit him on the helmet and Sarfraz after getting furious said Shaheen to ball with patience and passed some other words too, Shaheen replied to him well too.

After this clash, Haris Rauf came up to ball the next over. He bowled the bouncer again to Sarfraz and passed some comments while smiling. In the same over Sarfraz hit Haris for a six and managed to score 158 runs in 20 overs.

Shinwari Proved His Selection Right

Usman Khan Shinwari, who is been criticized badly on social media because of his no balls, bowled the first over. He started with the no-ball again. On the second ball of his over he got Sohail Akhtar on golden duck as Jake Weatherald had some catching practice at first slip.

After Shinwari, Muhammad Hasnain clean bowled Fakhar Zaman and sent him back to the pavilion. Zeeshan Ashraf was looking good but he got caught behind Khurram Shehzad. Before him, Shinwari took the dangerous wicket of Muhammad Hafeez. Professor tried to flick to ball towards the leg side but got an outside edge and the ball flew up in the sky and Azam Khan took an easy catch.

In this way, the powerplay was won by Quetta Gladiators as Lahore Qalandars finished the over at 40 runs with a loss of 4 important wickets. But still, there were a lot of fired-up players to come in form of Ben Dunk and Tim David.

Tim David The Lone Warrior

Tim David was the only batsman to stay at the crease and play some good knock. All others players including Ben Dunk and Rashid Khan lost their wickets. Davis scored 46 runs in just 27 balls with 3 sixes and 4 fours. He lost his wicket to Usman Shinwari too.

Shaheen Shah came and hit a six on the very first ball he played but managed to score only 12 runs. The same goes for Haris Rauf he scores 19 runs in just 7 balls but Muhammad Hasnain bowled him out and Quetta Gladiators won their second match in this year’s PSL.

Changes in Points Table

Both the teams stayed at the same position where they were before the start of the match. Quetta gains two points and their total points became 4. Lahore stayed at number 2 followed by Karachi and Peshawar.

Check complete points table here.

Match Summary

Quetta Gladitors		158/5(20 Overs)
Jake Weatherald	48(41)	James Faulkner	25/3 (4)
Sarfraz Ahmed	34(27)*	Muhammad Hafeez	12/1 (2)

Lahore Qalandars		140(18 Overs)
Tim David	46(27)	Khurram Shehzad	14/3 (3)
Haris Rauf	19(7)	Usman Shinwari	32/3 (4)

Match Details
Toss	Lahore Won, Elected to Feild
MOM	Usman Shinwari
Umpire	Aleem Dar Rashid Riaz
3rd Umpire	Shozab Raza
Match Refree	Muhammad Anees

Match number 20 of HBL PSL 6 was played between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United. Before the match, Lahore Qalandars were at the top of the table while Islamabad United was following them at second place. Both teams were having a good time in Abu Dhabi as Lahore was unbeaten in Abu Dhabi while Islamabad chased a record-breaking target against Quetta.

This match was the decider for the top of the table. If Lahore wins the match they will stay at the top of the table while if United wins they will replace their position with Lahore.

Toss

Islamabad United won the toss and decided to bat first. This was the very first time that Islamabad opted to bat after winning a toss. In all 6 seasons of PSL United always field first after winning the toss.

Playing XIs

Islamabad was having a bit of difficulty making their best possible playing XI as Faheem Ashraf got injured and Hassan Ali returned home. Islamabad played with only two foreign players in match 18, Colin Munro and Usman Khawaja. This time they included another overseas player Fawad Ahmed. Others players were Rohail Nazir, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Muhammad Wasim, Muhammad Musa, and Ali Khan.

Qalandars were winning the matches single-handedly with the brilliance of Rashid Khan. Muhammad Faizan was criticized a lot after he played an innings with a very low strike rate without even hitting a boundary. Qalandar decided to rest him and came up with wicketkeeper-batsman Zeeshan Ashraf. This was the only change made by Qalandars.

The foreign players were the same for Qalandars, Ben Dunk, Tim David, James Faulkner, and Rashid khan. Local players include Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar, Muhammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Ahmed Danyal.

Shaheen Shah’s Brilliant First Over

Shaheen Afridi came to the ball the very first over of the innings. Australian batsman Usman Khawaja was facing him. The first two balls shaped away from Khawaja as the pitch was producing swing. On the 3rd ball, an outside edge gone straight to Ben Dunk returned Usman Khawaja to the pavilion.

On the very ball, Shaheen Shah bowled perfect yorker to the new guy, Rohail Nazir. Rohail was unable to play that yorker and the ball hit his pad and the umpire gave him out. Rohail Nazir, after discussing it with Colin Munro, took the review and it became beneficial to him.

Before TV check the bat involvement or ball tracking, he noticed Shaheen Shah’s foot which was crossing the line. This ball was declared as the no-ball and Rohail survived. This was only the 6th no-ball from Shaheen Shah throughout his PSL career.

Faulkner Did The Job Again

James Faulkner balled the next over and this time Rohail Nazir was unable to survive on the crease. No foot wok from Rohail cost him his wicket and another breakthrough to Lahore Qalandars. James Faulkner is being unstoppable in the UAE leg and has now got 8 wickets in just 3 games.

The party didn’t end here, Faulkner kept going and took 3 wickets in the powerplay and Lahore kept the game in their hand. Islamabad United ended up the powerplay on 20-4, which id the worst powerplay played by any team in PSL history. They played the best and worst powerplay in a space of two days only.

Asif Ali Smashed Rashid And Daniyal

Islamabad was 20 for 5 in 6.1 overs. Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed were the last hopes for them. Asif holds his nerves and stayed on the crease, whenever a loose ball came he smashes it for a boundary, and kept going in the same manner. Asif made his mind to fancy the best bowler of Lahore Qalandars, Rashid Khan.

After being Man of the match in the first two games, Rashid conceded 36 runs in 4 overs and remained wicketless. The emerging guy Ahmed Danyal was hit for 46 runs in just 4 overs. With 5 sixes and 13 fours, Islamabad managed to score 152 runs in 20 overs with the loss of 7 wickets.

Asif Ali ended up his innings on 75 runs as he got hit wicket on Shaheen Shah’s ball. Iftikhar Ahmed gave his company to Asif as well with 49 runs in 37 balls with 6 boundaries.

Qalandars Won The Powerplay

As usual, Fakhar Zaman along with captain Sohail Akhtar opened the innings for qalandars. They started the game really well and managed to get 55 runs in the powerplay with the loss of only 1 wicket, that is of Sohail Akhar. Sohail played a real T20 innings of 34 in just 19 balls with 6 fours and a maximum.

Zeeshan Ashraf came to bat at number 3 and got run out in no time. He hit the ball and just started running without even looking at his partner Fakhar Zaman. Muhammad Hafeez managed to build 28 runs partnership with Fakhar. Hafeez lost his wicket in the 11th over that was bowled by Muhammad Musa.

Failed Middle-Order Cost Qalandars The Game

After Muhammad Hafeez’s wicket, everything scrambled for Qalandars. Ben Dunk followed by Fakhar Zaman came back to the pavilion. Then Tim David, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and James Faulkner lost their wickets as well in literally no time. Everyone was shocked by this upset.

Haris Rauf and Ahmed Daniyal were the last guys on the crease. Haris Rauf gave everyone some hope after hitting two consecutive sixes to Muhammad Wasim. 30 runs were required of the last two overs. Ali khan came to ball the second last over to Ahmed who took the single and gave the strike to Haris.

Haris lofted the ball but the ball found Iftikhar Ahmed at the boundary line. In this way, Qalandars lost a match from their hands. After performing well at the start of both inning to the worst game in the second half.

Changes In Points Table

Islamabad United replaced Lahore Qalandars in the top position. Lahore is now at number two followed by Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings.

Check full PSL 6 points table here.

Match Summary

Islamabad United		152/7(20 Overs)
Asif Ali	75(43)	James Faulkner	19/3 (4)
Iftikhar Ahmed	49(37)	Shaheen Shah	19/2 (4)

Lahore Qalandars		124(18.2 Overs)
Fakhar Zaman	44(37)	Muhammad Musa	18/3 (3)
Sohail Akhtar	34(19)	Shadab Khan	14/2 (4)

Match Details
Toss	Islamabad Won, Elected to Bat
MOM	Asif Ali
Umpire	Asif Yaqoob Shozab Raza
3rd Umpire	Ahsan Raza
Reserve Umpire	Zameer Haider