PSL 2023: Multan Sultans replace injured Shahnawaz Dahani with Mohammad Ilyas

The runner-ups of the Pakistan Super League season seven Multan Sultans didn’t have the best of starts to the PSL season 8 as they lost their opening encounter against Lahore Qalandars. To add to their woes, they further lost their star fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani after the first game due to finger injury.

Sultans have announced that they will be replacing Dahani with fast bowler Mohammad Ilyas. The Peshawar-born seamer has played 54 T20s and has picked up 58 wickets in 51 innings at an average of 24.55 and an economy of 9.03.

Meanwhile, in the opening match against Lahore Qalandars, Dahani gave away 40 runs in four overs and picked up one wicket.  Apart from leaking runs, the Pakistan seamer also made the headlines for missing an easy run-out chance of Hussain Talat which later proved to be costly for his team.

Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss in their opening fixture and elected to bowl first. Lahore Qalandars got a decent start by their openers Fakhar Zaman and Mirza Baig who added 61 runs for the first wicket in 44 balls. After losing his partner Baig, Zaman continued his innings and went on to score a sensational knock of 66 off 42 balls with the help of three fours and five sixes.

The southpaw was finally dismissed in the 16^th over by Usama Mir leaving Qalandars at 125/4 after 15.1 overs. Some late cameos by Sikandar Raza and Hussain Talat took their team to a total of 175/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Ihsanullah and Usama Mir picked up two wickets each for Sultans.

Multan Sultans to face Quetta Gladiators in their second match

In reply, Sultans got off to a stupendous start courtesy of their openers Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan who added 100 runs in 74 balls. However, despite being in the game throughout their innings, Sultans lost wickets at regular intervals against some tight bowling by Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.

They eventually fell one run short of Qalandar’s total and lost a thrilling opening encounter of PSL season 8. Sultans will look to get the first win under their belt in their second match against Quetta Gladiators on February 15, Wednesday.

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