The Multan Sultans defeated the Lahore Qalandars by a margin of 33 runs, effectively launching their PSL 2025 campaign. Yasir Khan’s scorching 87 off 44 balls at the top gave his team an easy lead they never gave up in the first home game on a swelteringly hot evening in Multan. Sultans achieved the highest-ever PSL score in Multan with 228 because to Iftikhar Ahmed’s undefeated 40 off 18 deliveries and cameos throughout the innings.
The Sultans’ bowlers were much more accurate in their execution, and Qalandars never batted at the pace required to overtake a total of that magnitude. As no Qalandars batsman converted a start, Michael Bracewell and Ubaid Shah claimed wickets up top, and the innings stalled out at 195 for 9.
Yasir Khan and Mohammad Rizwan, the Sultans’ opening duo, got off to a strong start, taking out Shaheen Shah Afridi in his first two overs. However, the tone was established by the defeat of Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan. As Sultans surged to 79 in the powerplay, Rizwan smashed Rauf for 20 after picking off his hard lengths at will in the sixth.
Yasir Khan bowled the sixth over and hammered Zaman for three sixes and a boundary.
Rizwan was dismissed by Asif Afridi, the only bowler who managed to silence the Sultans, but Yasir continued to push forward. After hitting a six off Rishad Hossain to reach his half-century, he and Usman Khan pursued Daryl Mitchell. Rauf’s comeback, however, only made things worse for Qalandars, as Usman hammered him for 19 more runs; in total, Rauf would give up 54 runs in his three overs.
Iftikhar found his range when Shaheen came back to bowl the last over, taking 14 off a misdirected over as the Sultans soared to 228. Once the backbone of the Qalandars’ assault, Shaheen, Haris, and Zaman had given up 119 runs in eight overs between them.
Qalandars needed a brilliant start from Fakhar Zaman if they were to have any chance, but the Sultans haven’t been able to protect a bigger total than this. At first, it seemed as though they had it as the opener chased David Willey, scoring 30 runs in his first two overs before hitting the frugal Bracewell for a six. However, Josh Little maintained composure to hold on to a brilliant catch to end Ubaid’s cameo at 32 off 14 balls after Fakhar blasted one that soared past the floodlights of Multan in the opening over.
Mitchell and Abdullah Shafique played a brilliant third-wicket partnership that yielded 36 off 22 deliveries in an attempt to keep the game going. However, the asking rate’s requirements were far too high. Sam Billings and Sikandar Raza were left as Qalandars’ only remaining prospects after Sultans used a triple attack to eliminate the two and Rishad.
After chasing Little in the eleventh over, which yielded 16 runs and reduced the asking rate to just over 13 runs per over, Billings was finding the middle of the bat. In the fifteenth over, Ubaid also attempted two sixes. Crucially, however, Ubaid was the last to chuckle at the last delivery. Billings top-edged to Kamran Ghulam after attempting to heave over midwicket. As Usman celebrated his third wicket with a little too much fervour, Ubaid hilariously hit him in the face.
However, the game was over and done. Raza persevered, hit a few of massive sixes to reduce the loss margin, then hit a 27-ball fifty off the last ball of the innings. The Multan crowd witnessed their team begin a campaign that might be just getting started, but the Qalandars’ hopes of triumph had long since faded.
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