Lahore Qalandars led by Shaheen Shah Afridi defeated the Multan Sultans by the barest of margins in the inaugurating game of PSL 2023. Multan Sultans failed to chase 176 runs to win the match and ultimately ended up being only 1 run short. At one point Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood were leading the Sultans chase with utmost ease but it all went wrong after the departure of Masood and Rizwan.
Earlier in the match, Multan Sultans won the toss and opted to field. Fakhar Zaman played an extraordinary knock of 66 off 42 with the help of 3 fours and 5 sixes to guide the Lahore Qalandars to a respectable total on the flat Multan Cricket Stadium. For Multan Sultans Usama Mir was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets for just 25 runs in 4 overs.
Chasing 176, Multan Sultans had a solid start with Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan playing significant knocks. Rizwan scored 75 off 50 before departing. Ultimately, the equation came down to 15 runs in the last over to win for Multan Sultans.
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Kieron Pollard and Khushdil Shah were on the crease. However, Pollard was caught short of the crease on the second ball of the last over. Khushdil Shah was on the crease and Multan Sultans required 10 off the last two balls to win. He struck two back to back fours and failed to take his team to the finishing line.