Multan Sultans, the runners-up of the seventh season of the Pakistan Super League, had a rough start to the eighth season of the league, losing their opening match to Lahore Qalandars. Due to a finger injury, their star fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani was lost after the first game.
The Sultans have confirmed that fast bowler Mohammad Ilyas will replace Dahani. The Peshawar-born seamer has participated in 54 Twenty20 matches, accumulating 58 wickets in 51 innings with an average of 24.55 and an economy of 9.03.
In the inaugural game against Lahore Qalandars, Dahani conceded 40 runs in four overs and took one wicket. In addition to conceding runs, the Pakistani seamer drew headlines for missing an easy run-out opportunity against Hussain Talat, which cost his team dearly.
Mohammad Rizwan, captain of the Sultans, won the opening toss and opted to bowl first. The Lahore Qalandars got off to a good start thanks to Fakhar Zaman and Mirza Baig, who scored 61 runs for the first wicket in 44 deliveries. Zaman maintained his innings after losing his partner Baig and proceeded to hit a remarkable 66 off 42 balls with three fours and five sixes.
Usama Mir finally dismissed the southpaw in the sixteenth over, leaving Qalandars at 125/4 after 15.1 overs. Sikandar Raza and Hussain Talat’s late cameos helped their team reach 175/6 in the allocated 20 overs. Each of Ihsanullah and Usama Mir took two wickets for the Sultans.
Their second contest will be against the Quetta Gladiators.
Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan, the Sultans’ openers, contributed 100 runs in 74 balls as the team’s response got off to a tremendous start. Despite being in the game throughout their innings, the Sultans consistently lost wickets to the tight bowling of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
They ultimately fell one run short of Qalandar’s total and lost the opening match of the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League. In their second encounter against Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday, February 15th, Sultans will attempt to secure their maiden victory.
