PSL 2021, match review: Lahore Qalandars take on Multan Sultans today

Veteran Mohammad Hafeez will be the player to watch out for in today's match
Multan Sultans have failed to impress in the tournament so far
For the Sultans, James Vince and Rizwan are in good touch

KARACHI: The Lahore Qalandars will be looking to extend their winning run in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 when they take on a beleaguered Multan Sultans in the seventh match of the tournament.

The Qalandars went off to a dream start in PSL 6, easily outclassing Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators in their opening two fixtures.

Read more: Lahore Qalandars among strong contenders to win PSL 2021: David Wiese

In both games, veteran Mohammad Hafeez scored two match-winning unbeaten knocks of 33* and 73*. To boost the Qalandars’ confidence, opener Fakhar Zaman has also regained his form which was evident when he batted brilliantly in the last game by scoring the match-winning 82 not out.

Their bowler Haris Rauf is also looking in good form after starting the season with bowling figures of 4-0-38-3 against Quetta in the high-scoring match. Shaheen Shah Afridi has also taken four wickets in two games, including three wickets in the first match.

However, Lahore Qalanders will now be without the Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan who has left the squad to join his national team for the series against Zimbabwe.

The Multan Sultans, on the other hand, have fared poorly so far in the league. They have lost their first two matches of this PSL 2021. Since topping the table in PSL 5, they have lost four matches in a row.

Read more: Peshawar Zalmi beat Multan Sultans by six wickets

The Sultans will also be worried about their bowlers not performing up to the expectations as they failed to defend an impressive 193 runs in the last match.

The team will once again pin hopes on Mohammad Rizwan and James Vince. who scored 84 runs off 55 deliveries in the match against Zalmi. Mohammad Rizwan has also started PSL 6 in good touch, scoring 71 (53 balls) and 41 (28) in his two outings.

The pitch in Karachi seems to be favouring the bowlers now. This is evident from the fact that in all the six matches of the league so far, the team batting second has won the game and chased impressive targets in the allotted 20 overs.

Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans have faced each other seven times with Lahore winning four times against their opponents from Southern Punjab.

The match will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi at 3pm

Players to watch:

Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez.

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan, James Vince.

SQUADS:

Lahore Qalandars: Ben Dunk, David Wiese, Dilbar Hussain, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Akhtar, Joe Denly, Samit Patel, Tom Abell, Zeeshan Ashraf, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Faizan, Maaz Khan, Zaid Alam, Ahmed Danyal

Multan Sultans: Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir, James Vince, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood, Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir, Chris Lynn, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Carlos Brathwaite, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohaib Ullah, Adam Lyth, Shahnawaz Dhani, Muhammad Umar, Imran Khan Sr