The middler-order batter, whose explosive finishing feats have sparked the Ifti-Mania phenomenon, finished unbeaten on 34 off 11 balls, hitting the winning runs with an over to spare.

Iftikhar entered at the fall of Mohammad Rizwan for 82 of 59, with 39 needed off 21 balls. He quickly set about his work, hitting four off the first ball he faced, and the first ball of the following over, bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi. David Willey then hit a six before being pinned lbw, leaving Iftikhar on strike for the penultimate over.

With 24 needed to win, the game was in the balance, but in a flash it was over. First, a thick outside edge flew through third man for four, before a pump down the ground was allowed through to the fence by a mis-field. Then came two big leg-side sixes, before a more deliberate hit behind square on the off-side wrapped up the game.

Multan Sultans have now won three from three to kick of their PSL 2024 campaign, while Lahore Qalandars, last year’s champions, have lost three on the bounce.

Watch Iftikhar Ahmed’s assault on Zaman Khan below:

IFTI MANIA 🤯

Enough said…#HBLPSL9 | #KhulKeKhel | #MSvLQ pic.twitter.com/uXqkWv2btV

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 21, 2024