Lahore Qalandars thumped Multan Sultans by 25 runs as they set a date with Karachi Kings in the summit clash on November 17.
David Wiese was at the fore front of everything for Lahore Qalandars as he showcased a perfect all round performance. First his 48 off 21 with the bat helped his side put a massive score on the board and then backed it up with figures of 3 for 27 with the ball.
Earlier, openers Tamim Iqbal and Fakhar Zaman got their team to a flyer with Lahore scoring 46 in the first 5. Junaid Khan came to dismiss Tamim just when he was looking to change gears. After that Multan spinners tighten the screws. Imran Tahir asked questions of every batsman but was unlucky to not get a wicket. Fakhar was slow by his standards and made 46 off 36. Muhammad Hafeez couldn’t repeat his heroics from yesterday and scored just 21 off 19. Shahid Afridi dismissed both Hafeez and Dunk in quick succession to turn the game in Multan’s favour.
Just when it looked like that Lahore have lost their way and will finish around 150, David Wiese decided to take on this much-vaunted Multan attack. The 19th over bowled by Junaid went for 20 runs with Wiese hitting two sixes and two fours. The last four overs went for 59 while last two for 38. By the time the South African all-rounder finished Lahore had a formidable total on the board.
Chasing 183 in a knockout game was always going to be tough but Multan’s opener came out all guns blazing. Adam Lyth got stuck into Qalandar’s pace attack and struck a blistering half-century. He scored 50 off just 28 balls. At one stage Multan were 82 for 1 in the ninth over were threatening to take the game away from Lahore but David Wiese had other ideas. He dismissed Lyth in his first over and that wicket turned out to be the most crucial one as Multan lost their way after that.
Shan Masood and Rilee Rossouw stitched a 20 run partnership but they were not able to find any sort of momentum in their innings. Rilee who has been a mainstay in the middle order for his side could only manage 18 off 18. Bopara also didn’t trouble the scorers much and skied one off Haris Rauf’s bowling. Rauf followed it up a with a brilliant yorker to dismiss Shahid Afridi for a duck. Seems like age has caught up with Afridi as he was completely late on the ball.
From 102 for 2, Multan were reduced to 122 for 7. Khushdil Shah tried his best and fought till the end. He made a valiant 30 off 19 but it was too much for him as Multan were bundled out for 155. Shaheen and Dilbar Hussain picked up 2 wickets each while Haris Rauf bagged three.
