Maqsood, Rossouw guide Multan Sultans to PSL-6 title

Sohaib Maqsood celebrated his national call-up with his fifth half-century of the tournament, while former South African cricketer Rilee Rossouw saved his very best for the grand finale as Multan Sultans defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs to win the Pakistan Super League-6 (PSL) title, at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium here.

Riding on an unbeaten 65 off 35 balls by Maqsood and a 21-ball 50 by Rossouw, the Sultans put an impressive 206/4 on the board in the allotted 20 overs after Peshawar Zalmi elected to bowl on Thursday in the D/N match.

South African Imran Tahir (3/33) and Zimbabwean Blessing Muzarabani (2/26) then restricted Peshawar Zalmi to 159/9 to win by 47 runs.

Maqsood, who was given a lifeline when he was dropped by Hazratullah Zazai on six in the 11th over, slammed six fours and three sixes in an electrifying 35-ball knock, while Rossouw clobbered five fours and three sixes in a swashbuckling 21-ball 50 -- his first half-century of the tournament -- to steer Multan Sultans to 206.


Peshawar Zalmi, needing over 10 runs an over from the onset, made a spirited reply with Kamran Akmal racing to 36 before Hazratullah hit his first scoring-shot -- a six off Blessing Muzarabani -- before being dismissed a ball later.

Five balls later, Kamran Akmal (36, 28b, 5x4, 1x6) was cleaned up by Imran Khan Sr as Peshawar Zalmi slipped from 36 for no loss in five overs to 42 to two and then 63 for three at the halfway stage to eventually finish at 159 for nine in 20 overs.

Shoaib Malik (48, 28b, 3x4, 3x6) and West Indian cricketer Rovman Powell (23, 14b, 2x4, 1x6) put up a brief middle-order resistance in a 66-run fourth-wicket partnership, but it was Multan Sultans' evening as Tahir, Muzarabani and Imran Khan Sr kept chipping in with wickets.


Brief scores: Multan Sultans 206/4 in 20 overs (S Maqsood 65 not out, R Rossouw 50, S Masood 37, Md Rizwan 30; Sameen Gul 2/26, Md Imran 2/47) beat Peshawar Zalmi 159/9 in 20 overs (S Malik 48, K Akmal 36, R Powell 23; I Tahir 3/33; B Muzarabani 2/26, I Khan 2-27) by 47 runs.-IANS