DUBAI: Sohaib Maqsood was at his explosive best on Tuesday night with a blistering innings of 85 against reigning HBL Pakistan Super League champions Peshawar Zalmi, powering Multan Sultans to a 19-run victory at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Multan, who are playing in their first season at PSL, opened a two-point gap at the top of the standings with this fourth win in six outings thanks to Sohaib, who tore into the Peshawar bowling to blast seven sixes and four fours while facing only 42 deliveries.

Peshawar had to bat out of their skins to prevent Multan securing a second triumph against them — Multan won the opening fixture here on Feb 22 by seven wickets — but despite Mohammad Hafeez and Liam Dawson’s 49-run partnership in 27 balls, the holders finished well short of the daunting 184-run target.

Sohaib Maqsood, a tall right-hander who has not played international cricket since Jan 2016, outshone everyone else with this tournament’s highest individual score. He eclipsed Dwayne Smith’s undefeated 71 versus Karachi Kings at the same venue on Feb 25. Multan surpassed their 179-5, the previous highest score this year, by piling up a commanding 183-3 after Mohammad Hafeez chose to field.

Peshawar needed the hard-hitting Smith to match what Sohaib had achieved to get close to Multan’s score. But Smith fell to Kieron Pollard, top-edging a high catch to Darren Bravo for 18. Hafeez put up a brave fight by striking 56 off 41 balls with the aid of five fours and a brace of sixes, while Dawson hoisted three sixes in his 17-ball cameo of 32. Scores in brief:

MULTAN SULTANS 183-3 in 20 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 85 not out, Ahmed Shehzad 37, K.C. Sangakkara 28); PESHAWAR ZALMI 164-8 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 56, L.A. Dawson 32, M.H. Wessels 22; Sohail Tanvir 3-14, K.A. Pollard 3-37, Mohammad Irfan 2-32).

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2018