During Eliminator 2 of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 8, Peshawar Zalmi’s captain Babar Azam overtook Mohammad Rizwan as the highest run-scorer after scoring his 37th run in the match. However, Rizwan quickly regained the top position during the final against Lahore Qalandars at their home by scoring two boundaries, bringing his total runs to 524 for the season.
Rizwan’s achievement of scoring 500+ runs in three seasons is a first in the PSL, whereas Babar achieved this milestone in two editions. When this story was filed, Multan had scored 61-1 in 5.3 overs while chasing Lahore’s mammoth target of 201 runs.
Lahore’s captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, played a crucial knock in the match, scoring 44 runs off 15 balls and partnering with Abdullah Shafique for a match-turning partnership that yielded 66 runs in just 27 balls. This helped Lahore set a daunting target of 201 runs for Multan to chase.
Abdullah Shafique also played a sensible knock, scoring 65 runs off 40 balls, including eight boundaries and two maximums. After a brisk start, where Lahore scored 34 runs in the first three overs, opener Tahir Baig was dismissed by Ihsanullah with a sharp short ball, having scored 30 runs in 18 balls. The wicket, coupled with some good bowling, helped Multan stem the flow of runs as Lahore reached 82-1 at the halfway mark.
Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique added 57 runs in 38 balls for the second wicket, but just when they decided to increase the scoring rate, Multan dismantled the Lahore batting side’s plans with four quick wickets.
