DUBAI: Junaid Khan starred with a hat-trick as Multan Sultans maintained their ascendancy in the HBL Pakistan Super League by pulling off a second straight victory at the Dubai International Sta­dium on Friday. The PSL debutants outclassed Lahore Qalan­dars by 33 runs.

Riding on Kumar Sangakkara’s 63 (44 balls, five fours and three sixes) and another fine knock from Shoaib Malik (48 off 28 balls, three sixes and two fours), Multan posted 179-5 after being asked to bat by Brendon McCullum.

Lahore kept pace with the asking rate of exactly 9 per over as opener Fakhar Zaman blazed his way to a 30-ball 49. He teamed up with Umar Akmal to put up 65 in 43 balls. They took the score to 91-2 after 10 overs, keeping their side’s prospects alive.

Fakhar chiefly dealt in sixes and smashed four of them before the left-hander sent the 27th delivery he faced for his first four. Umar looked good until he charged at Kieron Pollard and found Darren Bravo holding a good catch on the fence. Pollard then dismissed Fakhar via a brilliant effort from a diving Ahmed Shehzad at deep cover.

Lahore lost the plot altogether upon Fakhar’s dismissal as Junaid’s hat trick sent back Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport and Raza Hasan in the 17th over.

The wheels came off in a stunning collapse as seven wickets fell for just four runs.

Imran Tahir beat both Junaid and Sangakkara to the man-of-the-match award with 3-27.

Shehzad had earlier laid a good foundation for Multan with a 33-ball 38 (five boundaries), putting on 88 with Sangakkara for the opening wicket.

Game 3 also provided the first glimpse of Shaheen Shah Afridi on the big stage. However, the young Pakistan Under-19 left-arm quickie’s debut was inauspicious as his three wicket-less overs cost 35 runs.

Summarised scores:

MULTAN SULTANS 179-5 in 20 overs (K.C. Sangakkara 63, Shoaib Malik 48, Ahmed Shehzad 38; Mustafizur Rahman 2-22); LAHORE QALANDARS (Fakhar Zaman 49, Umar Akmal 31, S.P. Narine 26, Sohail Akhtar 21; Junaid Khan 3-24, Imran Tahir 3-27, Mohammad Irfan 2-19, K.A. Pollard 2-28).

Earlier, Karachi Kings beat Quetta Gladiators by 19 runs in the day’s first encounter even after putting up a below par 149. But their incisive bowling enabled them to defend the total as Quetta made heavy weather of a modest target.

In Karachi’s innings, Colin Ingram’s 21-ball 41lifted his side from a pedestrian 60-2 in the first 10 overs.

Shane Watson’s guile and accuracy were mainly responsible for the lethargic start as he picked up three scalps to reach 200 wickets in T20 cricket. Assisted by Joffra Archer, who appears to be the event’s main attraction, and Anwar Ali, Watson tied the batsmen down.

But then Ingram and Ravi Bopara suddenly cut loose, blasting their way through the middle overs with a 48-run stand in 4.3 overs. Their lusty hitting served as a cushion against what was to follow — six wickets went down for 13 runs.

Quetta lost three wickets in the first five overs and never bounced back. Umar Amin (31) and Mohammad Nawaz (30 off 20 balls) kept their chances alive, but it was not enough in the end.

Karachi Kings 149 for 9 (Ingram 41, Watson 3-22).

Quetta Gladiators 130 for 9 (Amin 31, Wasim 2-19, Mills 2-27) by 19 runs.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018