Multan Sultans unbeaten run in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League continued Saturday as they crushed Peshawar Zalmi by 57 runs at National Stadium Karachi.

After their bowlers were heavily punished in the field, Zalmi batsmen also failed to rise to the occasion in a mammoth chase of 223 runs.

Ben Cutting remained unbeaten with 52 runs off 31 balls and Hazratullah Zazai made 43 off 32 balls as Zalmi could reach 165-8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Imran Tahir once again proved too good for batsmen as he claimed three wickets for 25 runs. Shahnawaz Dhani also claimed three wickets but gave away 41 runs.

Sultans Innings

Earlier, Multan Sultans batsmen looked unstoppable as they piled up another 200-plus score in the 13th match of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League being played at National Stadium Karachi.

Sultans, who are undefeated till now in the event, piled up 222 for the loss of three wickets after being sent into bat bay Peshawar Zalmi.

Skipper and opener M Rizwan continued his sublime run in the shortest version of the game as he again put the Zalmi bowlers to the sword and scored 82 runs off 53 balls with the help of a six and eight fours.

https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1489996685778599941

Sutans started extremely well with Shan Masood and Rizwan carrying them unscathed through the powerplay. Shan was out after scoring after scoring 35 off 25 balls and giving his team an opening partnership of 85 runs in nine overs. Sohaib Maqsood kept upping the ante by the time Masood was dismissed with Rizwan on the other hand waltzing along on his merry way. However, his stay was cut short by Usman Qadir as he scored 25 off 17 balls.

https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1489995997245751301

Rizwan was then joined by Tim David in the middle who emulated his ball-striking antics from the other night, smashing the joint-fastest fifty of PSL 2022.

David’s onslaught totally baffled Zalmi bowlers as Sultans batsman continued to toy with them with his powerful strokes and raced to his half century in just 18 balls.

When the skipper got out after a sublime 82 off 53, Khushdil Shah provided the finishing touches at the rear-end with three sixes to Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz.

https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1489997549108928514

A near-perfect innings for the defending champions, not so much for Peshawar Zalmi who were quite ordinary in the field and couldn't execute their bowling plans under pressure, unlike last night.

Toss

Peshawar Zalmi’s captain Wahab Riaz Saturday won the toss and elected to bowl first against Multan Sultans in a match of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the National Cricket Stadium Karachi.

The Sultans are yet to be defeated in this tournament, having won all four of their matches and are placed right atop the points table.

The Zalmi, on the contrary, are positioned 4th with two wins and as many losses, thus far. They overpowered the Kings yesterday night to clinch two crucial points.

The last time these two sides faced off was in PSL 2021 Final when Multan Sultans battered Peshawar Zalmi to secure their maiden PSL title.

Overall both the teams have locked horns nine times in the PSL with Sultans winning six matches and Zalmi three. At National Stadium Karachi, both teams have met twice and won one match each. In the last five encounters, Sultans have totally overwhelmed Zalmi by winning four matches.

Zalmi made one change to their playing X1 by replacing Hussain Talat with Saqib Mahmood.

Sultan made three changes in their playing XI replacing Rilee Rossouw, David Willey and Rumman Raees with Johnson Charles, Blessing Muzarabani and Shahnawaz Dahani.

Playing XIs:

Peshawar Zalmi: Kamran Akmal (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Usman Qadir, Ben Cutting, Wahab Riaz (c), Mohammad Umar, Salman Irshad

Multan Sultans: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Johnson Charles, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, Anwar Ali, Abbas Afridi, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dahani.