Chris Lynn bats ferociously
The heroic innings of Chris Lynn’s 113 run off 55 balls against table-toppers Multan Sultans, has powered Lahore Qalandars into its first semifinal ever in Pakistan Super League. He smashed eight sixes and 12 boundaries in his innings.
With this win, Lahore ended up in 3rd place in the points table and will now play the 2nd ranked Karachi Kings in the second semifinal. It will be held on 17th March.
Lynn’s spectacular batting against a depleted bowling attack of Multan has helped Lahore to reach 191 runs in 18.5 overs with the loss of one wicket.
Multan Sultans which batted first scored 186-6 mainly due to left-handed batsman Khusdil Shaw’s aggressive knock of 70 out of 29 balls.
Lahore Qalandars bowlers Shaheen Afridi and David Wiese took 2 wickets each. Haris Rauf was the most expensive bowler in the Lahore side with an economy rate of 16.67.
The opening partnership between Chris Lynn and Fakhar Zaman blasted the first 100 runs in just 54 balls. Fakhar Zaman who made 57 runs was stumped in the bowling of Usman Qadir, the son of Pakistan bowling legend Abdul Qadir. He has made his debut in the tournament this year.
Foreign Players Leave PSL Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Multan Sultan’s James Vince and Rilee Rossouw are among the 14 foreign players that quit the tournament in the wake of worldwide coronavirus outbreak. Lahore is the only team that has retained its complete set of overseas players.
Multan has rested its front-line bowlers Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Shahid Afridi, and Imran Tahir in this match as it was already guaranteed a place in the semifinal.
Among Multan’s bowlers, English bowler Moeen Ali conceded the highest economy rate of 17.
This is only Multan’s second defeat and is placed at the top of the table. Multan Sultans will meet next Peshawar Zalmi in the other semis, which is on March 17th.
The PSL matches are being played in empty stadiums including this match.