Watch: Peshawar Zalmi survived a scare as Naveen-ul-Haq held his nerve against a rampaging Iftikhar Ahmed to take them to a nail-biting five-run victory against Multan Sultans yesterday (February 23).

Batting first after winning the toss in the ninth match of PSL 2024, Peshawar put up a strong total of 179 on the board with seven out of their top eight batters going past 15, but none going past 40. Haseebullah Khan was the top-scorer with 37 off 18, batting at No.3.

In the run-chase, Multan Sultans got off to a poor start, losing Mohammad Rizwan in the third over with the score reading only seven. Yasir Khan and Reeza Hendricks steadied the ship before Dawid Malan took the attack to Peshawar, batting at No.4. From 25 balls, he hit three sixes and three fours to score 52 at a strike rate of more than 200.

At the 16-over mark, Multan’s score read 130-4 with Iftikhar and Khushdil Shah at the crease and 50 required off the last four overs when the game seemingly turned on its head. Arif Yaqoob produced a triple-wicket over to reduce Multan to 144-7, needing another 36 off their last three overs.

With 24 required off the last two overs, Luke Wood gave just two runs to bring it down to 22 off the last. Naveen, who had gone for 28 runs off his first three overs, came on to bowl the final one.

Iftikhar missed the first ball. The second was a wide. And then the assault began. Four over extra cover. Another wide. Four past fine leg. Six down the ground. The equation was down from 21 off five to a very gettable six off two with momentum on the big man’s side.

The next ball was on a length outside off. Iftikhar gave it a big, hard swing, but only got a faint edge to the wicketkeeper, who pushed for a review as the on-field umpire didn’t give it out. Replays confirmed the edge and Iftikhar was sent packing, bringing Shahnawaz Dahani to the crease with six required off the last ball.

With not much choice in hand, Dahani swung hard and connected with thin air as the length ball crashed into his stumps to hand Peshawar a close victory by five runs, their first of the season.

Watch the thrilling final over of the Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans match here:

The last over was an absolute thriller! 🤯#HBLPSL9 | #KhulKeKhel | #MSvPZ pic.twitter.com/oEMB7TkJpv

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 23, 2024

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