Maqsood too chips in with bruising half-century as Sultans make it two in two in UAE leg
Multan Sultans 167 for 1 (Rizwan 82*, Maqsood 61) beat Peshawar Zalmi 166 for 7 (Rutherford 56, Akmal 35, Dahani 4-31) by 9 wickets
Chasing 167, Rizwan never once looked remotely under pressure as he caressed a classy 56-ball 82 without once appearing to take any risks. The flawless chase was merely following on from a fairly error-free effort from the Sultan’s bowlers, who had the wood over the Zalmi batsman for much of the innings. Only Sherfane Rutherford’s breezy half-century briefly threatened to leave them with a bigger target.
Imran Tahir, operating from the other end, while wicketless, rarely allows too many runs, and with the wickets falling and run scoring spluttering, Zalmi were visibly fading in the game. A handful of clubbed sixes from Rutherford at the death threatened to rob Multan of momentum at the changeover, but a shoddy Powerplay from the Zalmi bowlers meant all that advantage was swiftly squandered.
Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Irfan operated too often along a leg stump line Rizwan was working away to a vacant boundary for fun, and with wides and misfields thrown into the mix, it was little surprise to see the 50 brought up in the fifth over.
Once Sohaib Maqsood got together with Rizwan at the crease, the contrast of styles proved a devastating combination, much too hot for Wahab Riaz’s side to handle. If Rizwan was painting his way through his innings, Maqsood was hammering away during his. A whirlwind 31-ball 61 guaranteed this was never going to be allowed to go too deep, and when Rizwan helped a Riaz delivery over fine leg with six to go, it seemed a fitting way to end.
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Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000