Once again Lahore Qalandars boarded the same bus in Abu Dhabi named ‘batting collapse’ as they were all out for 89 one of the lowest totals in the league’s history, trying to chase 170 in a must-win game of the Pakistan Super League 2021. Shahnawaz Dhani was the star of the match with the ball for Multan Sultans, picking four wickets for just five runs.
Dhani was helped by some very average batting by the Qalandars which has been continuing since the last four games. With this fourth consecutive defeat, Qalandars ended their 10 match group stage run with five wins and five losses. Just 10 points from 10 games and a run rate that is worst among all the teams in the race for the Playoffs won’t do any good for Lahore as they would now pray for a Quetta Gladiators victory over Karachi Kings on June 19 to help them go through as the fourth-placed team.
None of the Lahore batters were up to ask in this game as James Faulkner a bowling all-rounder who batted at number seven was the highest scorer with 22 from 11 balls. The 23-year-old Dhani was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance. His figures of 4/5 are now the second-best bowling figures of this season and with 18 wickets in just eight innings, he sits at the top of the highest wicket-takers list for this season.
Sohail Akhtar, the Qalandars skipper who has failed alongside his team has nothing to say apart from the fact that it’s tough to pinpoint one person or issue when the entire unite fails so miserably. “When our batting flops this horribly it's tough to point fingers at the bowling performance,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, it was Sohaib Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw who got Multan Sultans rolling with the bat after both openers in skipper Mohammad Rizwan and last match hero Shan Masood failed. But Qlanadars came back and removed both Rossouw and Maqsood in a short span of time. From 123-3 in the 15th over and eying a total in excess of 180, Sultans suddenly found themselves reeling at 141-8 in the 19th over.
Then came the much-needed boost by Sohail Tanvir, who, with his one haded hook, a pull, a straight drive and a Chinese cut, hit two sixes and three fours in the last over of the innings bowled by the quickest man with the ball in hand, Haris Rauf. This totally shifted the momentum back to Sultans which they utilised in their defence of the total.
Reacting to the win, Rizwan said, “When the team performs according to the situation your job becomes very easy.” Asked about his plans for the Playoffs, the wicket-keeper batsman diverted the question saying, “You go match by match and ball by ball and not get too ahead of yourself. Just play according to the situation and the rest will take care of itself.”
This was Sultans fourth win in a row and with this, they reached 10 points and because of a superior run rate, climbed to the second spot on the points table with a match in hand. Until and unless they lose it by an unimaginably huge margin against Islamabad United in their last league game on Saturday, June 19, Sultans have almost confined their place in the Playoffs.