KARACHI: Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans on Saturday won their matches in the HBL-PSL 7 here at National Stadium.

In the first match, Lahore Qalandars registered their third victory, defeating Islamabad United by 8 runs after a thrilling contest. Later, Multan Sultans crushed Peshawar Zalmi by 57 runs.

Chasing a target of 175 runs, the innings of Islamabad United wrapped up at 166 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Colin and Shadab made a 100-run partnership but they could not save United from the defeat. Colin Monroe scored 60 while Shadab Khan scored 52 runs. Harris Rauf took two wickets.

Lahore Qalandars set a total of 174 runs for the loss of 9 wickets after a solid start of 83 runs. Abdullah Shafiq made 44 off 24 balls while Fakhr Zaman scored 38 runs.

In the last over of the match, Islamabad United needed only 12 runs to win. Power hitters like Azam Khan and Asif Ali were also present on the crease but Zaman’s superb bowling helped Qalandars to secure the victory.

Similarly, Multan Sultans grabbed the fifth consecutive victory in the tournament, beating Peshawar Zalmi by a huge margin of 57 runs.

Chasing the target of 223 runs, Zalmi’s only scored only 165 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. None of Peshawar Zalmi’s batsmen except All-rounder Ben Cutting (52) and opener Hazratullah Zazai (43) could resist against the Multan Sultans bowlers.

Shahnawaz Dhani and Imran Tahir took three wickets each. Captain and opener Mohammad Rizwan made a partnership of 85 runs with Shan Masood. Rizwan played excellent innings of 82 runs off 53 balls with one six and eight fours.

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