LAHORE: Stands full, crowds buzzing; it was a party atmosphere here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday night. The spectators had turned up in numbers to support the home side, and it didn’t disappoint.
Riding on the back of scintillating knocks by Daryl Mitchell and Sikandar Raza, Lahore Qalandars beat Multan Sultans by five wickets to go second in the HBL Pakistan Super League standings, as the visitors’ — on sixth — woes deepened and their playoff hopes dented further.
Chasing 186, Mitchell (64 off 38, four fours and as many sixes and Raza (40 off 21, two fours and four sixes), combined for 89-run partnership off 41 balls for the fifth wicket to take Qalandars across the line with six balls to spare after a tricky start.
Just when Qalandars opener Fakhar Zaman (28 off 22, three fours and two sixes) had started to look threatening, he reached far for a Mohammad Hasnain wide yorker to get caught by Josh Little at short cover on the very next ball after Qalandars had reached 45-2 in the powerplay.
Sultans could have made further inroads had Yasir Khan held on to a simple catch at deep cover after Abdullah Shafique — at 20 then — had miscued a drive off off-spinner Michael Bracewell in the ninth over.
The incoming Mitchell got going with a powerful pull off Akif Javed for his first six before cutting the left-arm pacer for four more as Qalandars reached 80-2 at halfway stage.
But pacer Ubaid Shah’s arrival in the next over brought a couple of setbacks for Qalandars as Abdullah (34 off 25, two fours and as many sixes), who had celebrated his reprieve with delightful slog-sweep for six and a cover drive for off Bracewell earlier, was undone by the right-armer’s extra pace to get caught behind four balls later.
Ubaid got his second wicket in the over when Sam Billings holed him out to midwicket to leave Qalandars reeling at 95-4 by the end of the 12th before the Raza counterattacked with a four and a six off Bracewell as his team crossed the 100-run mark.
An audacious scoop by Mitchell off Hasnain restored Lahore’s confidence before Raza flicked and clubbed Little for two sixes in the 16th over. Raza launched Little for a handsome six over long-on as Qalandars crossed 150 in the 17th over.
Ubaid (2-34) then returned to be plundered for a four by Raza and a boundary and a six by Mitchell before the New Zealander hit another maximum off Akif but was castled by the pacer. Raza, however, finished the match off fittingly with just one more run to win.
Earlier, after being put into bat, Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan’s well-paced unbeaten knock of 76 off 48 balls (six fours and three sixes) and Kamran Ghulam’s 52 not out off 31 (two fours and four sixes) helped the team post 185-3.
Rizwan made a slow start to his innings before covering up for it in the latter stages of the innings, stitching up 115 off 59 along with Kamran.
Sultans had gotten to 39-1 in the powerplay, which also saw them lose opener Yasir Khan, who looked dangerous before his 24 off 18 balls, which included three fours and a six, was ended by pacer Haris Rauf.
Usman Khan, who had cleared the covers against Asif Afridi’s left-arm spin for two boundaries to get going before pulling medium-pacer Mitchell for a six, was undone by another short ball by the latter to depart after adding 18 off 14.
Right after Rizwan’s first boundary — off Mitchell — coming on the 18th ball of his innings had led the side to 70-2 at halfway stage, Shai Hope on the other end was castled by a Tom Curran in-swinger.
The incoming Kamran cut Asif with authority before showing excellent footwork to smash him over the covers for six as Multan gradually upped the ante.
The right-hander clubbed Raza’s off-spin for another maximum over midwicket to take Multan to the 100-run mark by the end of the 13th over.
Rizwan, meanwhile, opened his arms in the 16th, swinging his bat hard to lift Haris over deep midwicket for his first six. The Pakistan captain brought up his half century in 41 balls , driving and pulling Mitchell for fours after Kamran had clobbered him for a huge six as Multan reached 150.
Rizwan pulled Shaheen for another six in the penultimate over, before smacking Haris for one more six and a four in the next, which also saw Kamran bring up his half century in 30 balls as Multan reached a total which did not prove enough for them.
SCOREBOARD
MULTAN SULTANS:
Yasir Khan c Raza b Haris 24
Mohammad Rizwan not ou 76
Usman Khan c Raza b Mitchell 18
S. Hope b Curran 9
Kamran Ghulam not out 52
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5) 6
TOTAL (for three wickets, 20 overs) 185
DID NOT BAT: Iftikhar Ahmed, M. Bracewell, J. Little, Ubaid Shah, Akif Javed, Mohammad Hasnain
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30 (Yasir), 2-51 (Usman), 3-70 (Hope)
BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-25-0 (2w),
Curran 4-0-24-1, Haris 4-0-46-1 (2w), Asif Afridi 2-0-22-0, Mitchell 4-0-47-1 (1w), Raza (2-0-20-0)
LAHORE QALANDARS:
Fakhar Zaman c Little b Hasnain 28
Mohammad Naeem c Bracewell b Little 6
Abdullah Shafique c Usman b Ubaid 34
D. Mitchell b Akif 64
S. Billings c sub b Ubaid 0
Sikandar Raza not out 40
Asif Ali not out 1
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-11) 13
TOTAL (for five wickets, 19 overs) 186
DID NOT BAT: Shaheen Shah Afridi, T. Curran, Haris Rauf, Asif Afridi
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Naeem), 2-45 (Fakhar), 3-94 (Abdullah), 4-95 (Billings), 5-184 (Mitchell)
BOWLING: Hasnain 4-0-30-1, Little 4-0-43-1 (1w), Ubaid 4-0-34-2 (2w), Akif 4-0-44-1 (1w), Bracewell 3-0-33-0 (2w)
RESULT: Lahore Qalandars won by five wickets.
CURRENT STANDING
Tabulated under (Teams, matches, wins, losses, points, net run-rate)
United 5 5 0 10 2.342
Qalandars 6 3 3 6 0.543
Kings 6 3 3 6 -0.217
Zalmi 5 2 3 4 -0.362
Gladiators 4 2 2 4 -0.625
Sultans 6 1 5 2 -1.562
Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2025
