Lahore (SzBR): Lahore Qalandars registered their third win of the tournament as they got the better of Multan Sultans by five wickets here at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Saturday night. They are now placed second on the points table behind table-toppers Islamabad United.
Qalandars handed Sultans their fifth loss in HBL PSL X by chasing the 186-run target in 19 overs with the help of a fiery 41-ball 89-run fifth-wicket stand between Daryl Mitchell and Sikandar Raza.
In pursuit of the target, Qalandars lost opening batter Mohammad Naeem in the second over as Josh Little drew first blood for the Sultans. Fakhar Zaman struck three fours and two sixes in his 22-ball 28 before falling to Mohammad Hasnain with 45 runs on the board in 6.1 overs.
Abdullah Shafique and Daryl Mitchell steered the chase with a steady 49-run stand off 31 balls before the former was undone by Ubaid Shah for 34 off 25 balls inclusive of two fours and as many sixes.
Ubaid removed Sam Billings for a three-ball duck in the same over with Qalandars 95-4 in 11.5 overs as Sikandar joined Mitchell in the middle. With the required rate mounting, the duo kept their team in the hunt as they ransacked 14, 11 and 18 runs off the 13th, 14th and 15th overs, respectively.
Mitchell, who brought up his second HBL PSL half-century off 32 balls, smashed four boundaries and as many sixes in his stellar 64-run knock. Raza, who hit the winning run for his team, struck a belligerent 21-ball 40 not out with the help of two fours and four sixes.
For Sultans Ubaid dismissed two batters, while Little, Hasnain and Akif Javed had one wicket each to their name.
Earlier, Multan Sultans were helped to a healthy total with the help of unbeaten half-centuries by skipper Mohammad Rizwan and no.5 batter Kamran Ghulam.
After Sultans were asked to bat, their opening batters stitched a 30-run opening stand before Yasir Khan (24, 18b, 3x4s, 1x6) fell prey to Haris Rauf in the fifth over. Usman Khan (18, 14b, 2x4s, 1x6) and Shai Hope (9, 9b, 1x4) departed in 8th and 11th overs, respectively.
With 70 runs on the board in 10.1 overs, Kamran and Rizwan went berserk as they notched 115 runs in the next 59 balls.
Rizwan, who leads the batting charts in HBL PSL X with 302 runs currently, struck unbeaten 76 off 48 balls hitting six fours and three sixes, while Kamran was the chief aggressor as he hit four sixes and two fours in his 31-ball 52 not out outing.
For Lahore, Tom Curran, Haris Rauf and Mitchell dismissed one batter each.
