The eight season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 8 2023) kicked off today with Match 1 between Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The defending champions, Lahore Qalandars, won the first match of the tournament and their opening game by 1 run.
Multan Sultans won the toss and decided to bowl first, which gave Lahore Qalandars the chance to put up a big score to chase in the second innings.
Lahore Qalandars managed to set a target of 176 for the Multan Sultans thanks to opener Fakhar Zaman’s exceptional performance as he managed to score 66 runs off 42 balls with a total of 8 boundaries (three 4s and six 6s).
.@lahoreqalandars set a target of 176 🏏
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 13, 2023
Will it be enough against the home side?#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #MSvLQ pic.twitter.com/YnD8upWg2o
Mirza Tahir Baig, who opened alongside Fakhar Zaman, also added 32 runs to the score total out of just 26 balls, which was the second highest run score for the innings, followed by Hussain Talat, who came in towards the end of the game and managed 20 runs off just 12 balls.
Meanwhile, Shai Hope and Sikandar Raza scored 19 runs each off 17 and 14 balls, respectively.
Multan Sultans had a wonderful start to their batting with Mohammad Rizwan scoring 75 runs off just 50 balls, while the second opener, Shan Masood, added 35 runs to the score total from just 31 balls.
David Miller of the Multan Sultans also managed 25 runs off 20 balls, while Kieron Pollard added contributed 20 runs off 12 balls, which showed that Lahore Qalandars came prepared with both their batting as well as bowling for being able to restrict the opposing team under the target.
Khushdil Shah did manage to score 12 runs off 6 balls towards the end of the innings, but was unable to guide the team to victory.
.@lahoreqalandars WIN A THRILLER! 🙌#HBLPSL8 | #SabSitarayHumaray | #MSvLQ pic.twitter.com/QZDUOqs1YG
— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 13, 2023
Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars – PSL 8 2023 Match 1 Highlights
Man of The Match
Fakhar Zaman named Player of the Match for his batting.
Today’s Match Squads
These are the squads for today’s match:
Multan Sultans – Muhammad Rizwan (c), Shan Masood, Usman Khan, David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Khushdil Shah, Akeal Hossain, Usama Mir, Sameen Gul, Shahnawaz Dahani, Ihsanullah
Lahore Qalandars – Fakhar Zaman, Tahir Baig, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Read more: PCB Announces Official 2023 HBL PSL 8 Schedule.
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