Multan Sultans beat Peshawar Zalmi by 49 runs to claim the PSL 6 trophy and their maiden Pakistan Super League title.
Winning the toss Peshawar Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz opted to field first. The decision however somewhat backfired at Multan Sultans managed to post whopping score of 206/4 in 20 overs thanks to Sohaib Maqsood’ 65 runs just of 35 balls and Rilee Rossouw’s quick 50 of just 21 deliveries.
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Chasing the target of 207, Peshawar Zalmi fell 49 shorts and only managed to score 159/9 in their 20 overs with Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal being he top scorers for their side by scoring 48 and 36 runs respectively.
Imran Tahir proved to be Sultans’ ‘ace in the hole’ by picking three key wickets in his last over to finish with 3-33, effectively neutralizing Zalmi’s batting line.
Multan Sultan’s Sohaib Maqsood was declared ‘man of the match’ for PSL 6 finale due to his crucial 65 runs that allowed Multan Sultans to post a significant total on the scoreboard.
Expressing his views in the post-match presentation ceremony, winning captain Muhammad Rizwan credited his team management and players for the win.
“Finals are pressure games – you can’t avoid that in the final. We discussed that and brought it down to two things – it would either be pressure of batting first or batting second. So it began like that, the pressure of playing out the new ball, and then we took it from there,” he said.
Meanwhile, runner-up Peshawar Zalmi’s captain Wahab Riaz credited Multan Sultans for they outperformed them in every field.
We didn’t play well today, they played much better than us, said Wahab Riaz.
PLS 6 Final Playing XI
Multan Sultans – Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Roussouw, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Tahir, Blessing Muzarabani, Imran Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani
Peshawar Zalmi – Hazratullah Zazai, Kamran Akmal (wk), Jonathan Wells, Shoaib Malik, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Wahab Riaz (c), Sameen Gul, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Imran
Key Highlights Of The Tournament
Shahnawaz Dahani – Hailing from Larkana, the 22-year-old Multan Sultans’ pacer emerged as the highest wicket taker by 20 wickets throughout the tournament. He was bestowed with ‘Best Bowler of HBL PSL 2021’ and ‘Best Emerging Cricketer of HBL PSL 2021’ for his notable performance throughout the tournament.
Sohaib Maqsood – Multan Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood not only bagged finale’s man of the match title, but was also named ‘Best Batsman of HBL PSL 2021’ and ‘Player of HBL PSL 2021’.
He scored 428 runs 5x50s, avg 47.55, strike-rate 156.77 throughout the tournament.
Iftikhar Ahmad – Islamabad United’s Iftikhar Ahmed was named ‘Best Fielder of HBL PSL 2021’ for his safe hands as he took nine catches during the tournament.
Muhammad Rizwan – PSL 6 trophy’s winning team’s skipper, Muhammad Rizwan won the award for the most catches by a wicket keeper in a T20 tournament.
Muhammad Rizwan took 20 catches from behind the stumps throughout the tournament.
Babar Azam – Karachi Kings’ captain Babar Azam scored the most runs in PSL 2021 made 554 runs in 11 matches.
PSL 6 Postponement And UAE Leg
A total of 14 PSL 6 matches were held in Pakistan after the tournament was postponed in March 2021 earlier this year after several players, officials tested positive for COVID-19.
Read More: Cricket fans rejoice as PSL 6 resumes in Abu Dhabi
PCB further faced issues to resume the postponed cricket tournament after UAE placed Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa on its COVID-19 ‘red list’.
However, due to significant decrease in COVID-19 cases and following inoculation of players, officials and other staff, PCB struck a deal with UAE government to resume PSL 6 and hold remaining 20 matches in the gulf country.
