Tag: (PSL)

Lahore, February 15, 2023 (PPI-OT):Multan Sultans made a strong comeback in the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 as Ihsanullah scythed through Quetta Gladiators batting order to help them to a thumping nine-wicket win at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Ihsanullah’s superlative pace bowling garnered him incredible figures of five for 12 in four overs with 16 of his 24 deliveries being dots. These are the second best figures for a Multan Sultans bowler, behind Umar Gul’s six for 24 against the same opposition in the 2018 edition of the tournament.

The 20-year-old right-arm fast was incredibly quick and hit the good length regularly, keeping the batters guessing whether to commit on the front or the back foot. He bowled with such menace that he had taken all five wickets in 16 balls. Hailing from Khyber Agency in the north west of Pakistan, Ihsanullah entered the HBL PSL 8 at the back of decent form. The fast bowler was the best fast bowler in the Pakistan Cup 2022-23 (and second best overall), taking 25 wickets in 11 matches at a shade below 20.

Quetta Gladiators had a poor start with Martin Guptill falling to Sameen Gul in the second over and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai becoming Abbas Afridi’s victim in the fifth. Their woes amplified with the introduction of Ihsanullah, who bowled Sarfaraz Ahmed in his first over, the sixth of the innings.

The highlight of the match came in the eighth over when Ihsanullah accounted for Jason Roy, the highest run getter in the innings with 27 off 18, and Iftikhar Ahmed on back-to-back deliveries that put the visitors at a precarious 46 for five.

Mohammad Nawaz and Umar Akmal tried to steady the ship with a 20-run stand from 4.3 overs, but as the former was trapped LBW by the leg-spin of Usama Mir, who was the best bowler of the aforementioned Pakistan Cup and recently debuted for Pakistan in the ODI series against New Zealand, the floodgates opened again.

Ihsanullah had Umar walking back to the pavilion the next ball – first of the 13th – and three balls later, he rattled Naseem Shah’s stumps to record his maiden five-fer in the format.

Quetta Gladiators could manage 110 as they were bowled out with seven balls spare. Their second best score came from Mohammad Hasnain, who made 22, while Sameen and Abbas picked up two wickets each.

The run chase proved to be a cakewalk for the home side as they crossed the line in just 13.3 overs. There was an early hiccup, however, when Nuwan Thushara, at the start of the second over, hit Shan Masood on pads in front of stumps, but after that, it was a smooth sailing for Multan Sultans.

Rilee Rossouw, playing his first match of the season, took the game away in the fourth over, smacking Thushara for four consecutive fours. He scored his eighth HBL PSL half-century and finished with 78 not out of 42 and Multan Sultans’ captain Mohammad Rizwan made 28 off 34 as the two stitched 108-run undefeated partnership.

This was Multan Sultans’ sixth win over Quetta Gladiators in 10 matches.

Scores in brief:

Quetta Gladiators 110 all out, 18.5 overs (Jason Roy 27, Mohammad Hasnain 22; Ihsanullah 5-12, Sameen Gul 2-20, Abbas Afridi 2-27)

Multan Sultans 111-1, 13.3 overs (Rilee Rossouw 78 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 28 not out)

Player of the match – Ihsanullah (Multan Sultans)

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/

Lahore, February 15, 2023 (PPI-OT):Peshawar Zalmi overcame dropped catches, no balls, slow over rate penalty and a stunning 80 not out of 47 from Imad Wasim – his highest T20 score – to beat Karachi Kings by two runs in an enthralling contest on Tuesday. Peshawar Zalmi were on course to a comfortable win when they had the hosts tottering at 46 for four at 6.1 overs in the second match of the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 at the National Bank Cricket Arena, but the highest-ever fifth wicket partnership in the tournament’s history (131) between Karachi Kings captain Imad and Pakistan’s most experienced T20 campaigner, Shoaib Malik, turned the match into an exciting affair.

Malik, who made 52 off 34, and Imad gathered at the crease at the start of the seventh over. Though the pair displayed positive intent and took the attack on the opposition bowlers after taking a brief time settling in, they were helped by the fielding lapses and no balls, on one of which the catch was taken. Imad was on nine when he was dropped by Jimmy Neesham at backward point on the last ball of the eighth over. Imad was quick to rub salt into the wounds when he hit left-arm wrist spinner Sufyan Muqeem, the visiting side’s emerging pick, for two fours on either side of Malik’s boundary in an over that added 14 to the total.

In the 17th over, Wahab Riaz dropped a sitter at deep midwicket off Neesham and on the penultimate ball of the 19th Ben Cutting was caught off a no ball, delivered by Wahab. Peshawar Zalmi, in total, bowled five no balls – including both waist high and front foot – and seven wides.

But, in between these lapses, Imad and Malik pounced onto any opportunity they got to give themselves a solid chance of chasing down the total. Imad hit four sixes and seven fours in an inning in which he scored at a strike rate of 170.21 and Malik smashed four fours and two sixes.

Peshawar Zalmi found themselves behind the required over rate and had to field five fielders inside the 30-yard circle for the last two overs. With Karachi Kings needing 24 off the last 12 balls, Wahab made his experience count and gave away only eight runs – despite that Cutting no ball – and gave Khurram 16 runs to play with.

Khurram bowled with precision, hitting the Yorker length on the first three balls that coasted a single each. But, he stepped over on the fourth that added drama to the already tense contest as Karachi Kings took a single off that delivery. The right-arm fast, however, held nerve and gave singles on the next two balls. Imad hoicked the last ball for the six, but Khurram had done the job for Peshawar Zalmi by then.

Chasing 200 to win, Karachi Kings crumbled under scoreboard pressure. Wahab accounted for Sharjeel Khan on the second ball as his length ball kissed the left-hander’s gloves on its way to Mohammad Haris.

Matthew Wade’s onslaught instilled believe in the home crowd. The wicketkeeper-batter clubbed Khurram Shahzad for a six and two fours in the next over. That hope, however, was short-lived as he got caught off Neesham’s first ball of the match in the fourth over after making 23 off 15

Neesham dismissed Qasim Akram in the sixth over and Haider Ali was out in a bizzare fashion on the first ball of the seventh over – edging a catch to cover trying to work the ball wide down his legs – as Karachi Kings were now four down for 46.

That Karachi Kings had 10 runs per over to chase from the onset was because of a belligerent 92 off 50 by Tom Kohler-Cadmore and a sparkling 46-ball 68 from Babar Azam.

Though Peshawar Zalmi’s innings began with a boundary when Haris smashed Mohammad Aamir for a four at deep long on, they found themselves in a spot of bother with Haris and Saim Ayub getting out in a span of three balls in the second over.

Haris was struck on his back leg when he went for a heave over midwicket and Saim was run out at the non-striker’s end as Babar’s drive down the ground ricocheted off Mir Hamza’s hand and hit the stumps. Haris was adjudged not out by on-field umpire Alex Wharf, only to be overturned on review.

The momentum, however, did not stay with the home side for long as Kohler-Cadmore hit Imad out of the attack by smashing him for three consecutive sixes in the fifth over that added 23 runs to the Peshawar Zalmi’s total.

In what was an outstanding recovery, Peshawar Zalmi were 58 for two at the end of the Powerplay after finding themselves on 15 for two in 1.4 overs? The pair of Kohler-Cadmore and Babar continued to accumulate runs at a brisk rate as it took them 64 balls to bring up 100 partnership.

Kohler-Cadmore took 28 balls to reach the 50-run mark and Babar brought up his 24th HBL PSL half-century in 39 balls.

As Peshawar Zalmi looked on course to post a mammoth total, with 150 on board and 33 balls still to go, Babar was caught down the ground off Imran Tahir. The two had added 139 runs in 81 balls.

Kohler-Cadmore, however, continued to attack the Karachi Kings bowlers. He fell eight runs short of the century as he was caught pulling Ben Cutting on deep fine leg in the last over.

Plyaer of the match Kohler-Cadmore struck seven fours and six sixes and Babar hit seven fours and a six.

Scores in brief:

Peshawar Zalmi 199-5, 20 overs (Tom Kohler-Cadmore 92, Babar Azam 68)

Karachi Kings 197-5, 20 overs (Imad Wasim 80 not out, Shoaib Malik 52, Matthew Wade, 23; James Neeshan 2-26, Wahab Riaz 2-34)

Player of the match – Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Peshawar Zalmi)

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/

Lahore, February 14, 2023 (PPI-OT):Incredible bowling in the death by Lahore Qalandars’ pacers kicked off their title defence with a sensational one-run win over Multan Sultans in the opening match of the HBL Pakistan Super League 8. Multan Sultans, playing in front of the home crowd at the Multan Cricket Stadium, required 49 off the last five overs and with set batter Mohammad Rizwan and David Miller at the crease seemed on course to a comfortable win. But, in an outstanding spell of death bowling, Shaheen Shah Afridi gave only 16 runs in two overs (16th and 18th) and bowled Rizwan with a slower one. Haris Rauf was equally brilliant, giving only four runs in the 17th and removing Miller with a pitch perfect Yorker at the start of the 19th.

Experienced T20 batter Kieron Pollard, who Multan Sultans had picked in the replacement draft, smashed Haris for a six and a four towards the end of the penultimate over that added 14 runs for his side and left only 15 to be chased in the last over. Shaheen trusted Zaman Khan, who had bowled incredibly well in the last season to defend 12 off the last over against Islamabad United, and the right-arm fast bowler delivered. In what turned out to be dramatic last over, Pollard was run out, running for the second, on the second ball, the third ball, a full toss, thudded onto Usman Khan’s pad right in front of stumps, Usama Mir was run out on the fourth, Khush dill Shah spanked the second last ball for a four to bring down the equation to six off one but failed to connect the last ball that raced away for four instead.

This was Multan Sultans’ first defeat at home – they had won their all three matches here in 2020 – and that came from a side who were playing their first-ever match at this venue. Multan Sultans had a solid start to the run chase of 176 with Shan Masood (35 off 31) and Rizwan, whose 75 off 50, comprising eight fours and a six, was the top score in the match, putting a 100-run partnership. Shan was caught off Hussain Talat on the 12.2 overs marks and that was the only wicket to fall before Rizwan’s dismissal. After Multan Sultans had accumulated 53 runs in the Powerplay, Lahore Qalandars did well to dry up the flow of boundaries as when Miller, who scored 24 off 20, struck David Wiese for four on the second ball of the 14th over; it ended a 28-ball-long boundary drought.

Lahore Qalandars were given a solid start by the opening pair of Fakhar Zaman, who became the only second batter in the HBL PSL to cross the 2,000-run mark, and debutant Mirza Tahir Baig after Rizwan, the Multan Sultans captain, decided to field after winning the toss. The pair added 61 runs before Tahir fell to Akael Hosein after scoring 32 off 26. It seemed like Fakhar, who scored the most runs in the HBL PSL 7, had picked up from where he left his form in the Lahore Qalandars colours as he continued to score at a brisk pace and brought up his 17th half century of the tournament in 32 balls. He added 58 runs with Shai Hope, who scored 19 off 17.

Player of the match Fakhar went on to hit five sixes and three fours in his 42-ball 66 before he became the second wicket to fall in tandem when he holed out to deep square leg off Usama Mir on the first ball of the 16th over. This was leg-spinner Usama’s second wicket after he had sent back Hope earlier in the innings. On the previous delivery, pacer Ihsanullah had dismissed Kamran Ghulam, who could make only three off six balls. Hussain played a cameo in the lower middle-order, smashing 20 off 12 and Sikander Raza, Qalandars’ Zimbabwean import, made 19 not out of 14. Hussain was dismissed in the penultimate over by Ihsanullah.

Shahnawaz Dahani picked up his solitary wicket on the last ball of the innings when he struck David Wiese’s pad in front of stumps.

Scores in brief:

Lahore Qalandars 175-6, 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 66, Mirza Tahir Baig 32, Hussain Talat 20; Usama Mir 2-25, Ihsanullah 2-37)

Multan Sultans 174-6, 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 75, Shan Masood 35, David Miller 24, Kieron Pollard 20)

Player of the match – Fakhar Zaman (Lahore Qalandars)

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/

Lahore, February 13, 2023 (PPI-OT):The tickets for the HBL PSL 8 matches in Lahore and Rawalpindi will go on sale on Tuesday. The fans can buy the tickets online from pcb.bookme.pk and physical tickets will be available at designated venues.

The tickets for the 19 March final at the Gaddafi Stadium have been set at PKR7, 000 (VIP), PKR4, 000 (Premium), PKR2, 500 (First class) and PKR1, 200 (General).

Fans can witness the three Playoffs (Qualifier and two Eliminators) at PKR6, 000 (VIP), PKR3, 500 (Premium), PKR2, 000 (First class) and PKR1, 000 (General).

Rawalpindi will host 11 HBL PSL 8 matches and a ticket for the first match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings on 1 March is priced at PKR3,000 (VIP) and PKR2,000 (Premium).

Season passes will also be available for Lahore and Rawalpindi matches so the fans can watch their stars in action at discounted prices.

The prices of season passes for Lahore matches are set atPKR18,720 (VIP), PKR10,170 (Premium), PKR7,110 (First class), PKR3,870 (General) and they can be utilised to watch 26 Feb, 27 Feb, 2 March, 4 March and 12 March matches.

The prices of the season passes for the Rawalpindi matches are PKR13, 230 (VIP), PKR8, 730 (Premium) and they will be applicable for matches on 1, 6, 8, 9 and 10 March.

As the Pakistan Cricket Board continues its efforts to promote the women’s game, the three women exhibition matches between Super Women and Amazons on 8, 10 and 11 March can be watched on the same tickets bought for the HBL PSL 8 matches on those days.

Enclosure names:

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

VIP – Imran Khan and Fazal Mahmood

Premium – Rajas and Saeed Anwar

First class – Javed Miandad, AH Kardar, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Abdul Qadir

General – Majid Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Nazar, Quaid, Imtiaz Ahmed, Zaheer Abbas, Hanif Mohammad and Saeed Ahmed

Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

VIP – Imran Khan, Javed Akhtar, Javed Miandad and Azhar Mahmood

Premium – Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Miran Buksh and Yasir Arafar

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/

Lahore, February 13, 2023 (PPI-OT):Lahore Qalandars have drafted in Shai Hope as a replacement for Kusal Mendis.

Kusal had previously partially replaced Jordan Cox for the first three Lahore Qalandars’ games.

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/

Lahore, February 11, 2023 (PPI-OT):Karachi Kings could win a solitary game in the last edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League and the champions of the 2020 season are eager to bring out their A game when the HBL PSL 8 kicks off in Multan on Monday.

Johan Botha will take up their head coach duties after serving in the similar role for Multan Sultans (2019) and Islamabad United (2021). He was the assistant coach at Karachi Kings in HBL PSL 5, the edition when they lifted the title.

He spoke to PCB Digital about how Karachi Kings can turn around their fortunes, how they will replace Babar Azam, the most successful batter in the tournament, and what makes the HBL PSL one of the best leagues in the world.

This is your third HBL PSL franchise as a head coach. How has your experience been so far in the tournament?

I have had some great experiences in the past and I think it is a great tournament. It is probably one of the best two or three tournaments in the world and obviously great to work in it.

I love coming here. It gave me my first break as a coach when I was still playing. Dean Jones asked me to come and join him at Islamabad United. It is just a good tournament for me to be involved in.

What makes the HBL PSL one of the top leagues in the world?

It is the quality of the cricket. There are high scores and most nights the wickets are really good, but I think it’s the bowling quality of all teams. Every team has outstanding bowling and that is why a lot of teams go to the draft to pick international batters.

It is a good match-up as it is top international batters versus top local bowlers and not to throw at the local batters, you know, there are obviously some world-class players in there.

Every night is high quality cricket … it is a great tournament, high quality, and many international players that I have spoken to want to be involved in it.

This is a good tournament for international batters to come and enhance their batting skills against fast bowling.

Yeah, I would agree.

I think Alex Hales would say the same thing. Paul Stirling is another one. Usman Khawaja was with us at Islamabad for a tournament and he agreed. He obviously is a very good player of pace bowling growing up in Australia.

All of these guys have said you’ve got to be playing well every night because every night a different pace bowler comes at you and every team’s got a quality pace attack.

Every team probably has one or two spinners that sort of complement those quick’s. A lot has been said about the bowling, but the wickets are good and you have to bowl well otherwise you do go for plenty of runs.

What are the areas Karachi Kings need to work on and what are your expectations from the team?

For starters, we need to get back to the playoffs and give ourselves a chance to play those final games, because the last two years, Karachi has not even been close to that. The last time I was with Karachi, in the HBL PSL 5, we actually won that tournament. I was there with Dean Jones and he was the head coach.

We need to establish ourselves as one of the better teams in the tournament. That obviously is going to take some work from being last probably the last couple of years, only having won one game, during the HBL PSL 7.

That is a long way to go to turn that around. So that is certainly the aim is for us to be a contending team.

Obviously, teams have gone past us in the last two years and we have some serious work to do, but we also have a good squad. We have a really experienced squad. We have probably gone for the most experience in this game that I’ve seen, and we’ve got to bank on that. We have to hope that those guys perform for us on the big stage and can get this team back to winning ways.

From the last year, which is obviously the freshest one in memory, they won one game and that was the ninth game.

So, we’ve got to try and start well in Karachi. That is obviously a bit of an advantage, I would say, to play at home. First up, you want to start well at home. I suppose the crowds will be full again as the Covid pandemic is over. We have to make the most of starting at home, starting well and get some early momentum. That is what you want to do in a tournament like this. You need to get momentum early.

I hope that with the international players we’ve picked, plus having retained eight local players, we have got a strong enough squad to start well, then keep that momentum and get us into the playoffs. And that will put us two or three games away from winning a tournament.

It sounds simple saying it like that, but this team has some work to do. We have been poor the last two years and we have to pull things together and turn it around.

We have to do it now.

You mentioned about the presence of experienced cricketers, like Shoaib Malik, but Babar Azam is not going to be around this time. How much is that going to impact as he is one of the best cricketers in the world right now?

Yeah, he’s one of the best cricketers in the world. I think Sharjeel [Khan] is still obviously at the top, which he has done very well over the last few years.

We have filled Babar’s spot with James Vince, who has played really well for Multan. But, that is [Babar Azam moving to Peshawar Zalmi] obviously a big loss. He is a big player, he is a big character in the tournament and he draws big crowds into the stadium. We have tried to replace him with James Vince. Hopefully, we can substitute that – Vince has done really well when he’s played in the HBL PSL.

I think our biggest player and the player we probably need to get the most out of is [Haider] Ali. When he was with [Peshawar] Zalmi in the first couple of years, he was excellent. I thought this guy could be one of the best T20 players in the world.

So hopefully, we can get the best out of Haider Ali and if he has a really good tournament, we’ll be good as a team. He is dangerous as a player and can take the game away from the opposition. The management is looking to get the best out of him.

Then Shoaib [Malik] can follow that. Qasim Akram is a great emerging player. We also have Matthew Wade and a bunch of international all-rounders in James Fuller, Ben Cutting, and Andrew Tye.

Hopefully, we can fire at the top with the bat. In a tournament like this, your top six have to fire, get the runs, and get it quick enough or you are always going to struggle.

Obviously, last year there was something missing. I think we have covered it a way it’s a lot to replace an excellent player. But we have done pretty well to cover that.

Previous HBL PSL media releases:

20 January – HBL PSL 8 schedule announced

24 January – Fans to nominate Hamaray Heroes for HBL PSL 8

25 January – Teams strengthen rosters in HBL PSL 8 replacement draft

31 January – Babar Azam will aim to notch maiden century in HBL PSL

1 February – Shaheen raring for his comeback in HBL PSL 2023

3 February – New boys on the block

4 February – Fakhar, Haris and Sharjeel on making of aggressive openers

5 February – Amir, Shaheen, Wahab and Wasim on fast bowlers in HBL PSL

6 February – Azam and Usama join Amir, Fakhar, and Wahab on HBL PSL’s impact on their careers

7 February – Match officials for HBL PSL 8 announced

8 February – Aqib Javed previews HBL PSL 8 for Lahore Qalandars

8 February – Andy Flower previews HBL PSL 8 for Multan Sultans

9 February – HBL PSL 8 trophy unveiled at historic Shalimar Gardens

10 February – Azhar Mehmood previews HBL PSL 8 for Islamabad United

10 February – Moin Khan previews HBL PSL 8 for Quetta Gladiators

For more information, contact:
Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League Secretariat, Gaddafi Stadium,
Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@psl-t20.com
Website: http://www.psl-t20.com/