The Pakistan Super League (PSL) was off to a spectacular start with a closely fought opener between Multan Sultans and the Lahore Qalandars at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The Qalandars clinched the game by 1-run in the end, with Fakhar Zaman bagging the ‘man of the match’ award for his knock of 66 off 42 deliveries up the order.
While the game made headlines for some of Virat Kohli‘s Pakistani fans on show in the Stadium during the game, another key incident has left cricket fans spellbound. Qalandars skipper Shaheen Afridi bowled a perfect yorker in the fourth ball of the 16th over to get the wicket of his counterpart, Mohammad Rizwan, batting at 75 off 49.
Here’s a video of the perfect length delivery that rattled Rizwan’s leg stump:
o/ ?
©? dismisses ©?#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #MSvLQ pic.twitter.com/CxRxp0CaAf
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 13, 2023
PSL has produced back-to-back nail-biting encounters
Speaking of the game, the Sultans won the toss and elected to field first. Riding on opener Fakhar Zaman’s 66 off 42, the Qalandars posted a competitive total of 175/6 in their 20 overs. In reply, the Sultans got off to a strong start with both openers, Shan Masood and Mohammed Rizwan, building an impressive 100-run partnership.
However, the Qalandars managed to keep ticking the wickets’ column with key breakthroughs at decent intervals restricting the Sultans’ batters from gaining any momentum. In the end, the home side fell short of the target by just two runs and handed the Qalandars a narrow 1-run win to get off the mark in the PSL 2023.
PSL wasn’t done entertaining yet; the second game between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings resulted in yet another nail-biter as the Kings failed at a 200-run chase by three runs handing the Zalmi a very close 2-run win. Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s exceptional 92 off 50 and Zalmi skipper Babar Azam’s 68 off 46 made fun shows for the crowd. On the other hand, Shoaib Malik and skipper Imad Wasim came up with disciplined innings-rescuing performances for the Kings.
