Super Shafiq seals top spot for Multan Sultans in empty Karachi clash

Playing his first game of the tournament, the right-armer consigned Peshawar Zalmi to a defeat at the end of their group stage campaign, though stands lay closed to fans under coronavirus precautions

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Braces of wickets for the right-arm pace duo of Ali Shafiq and Sohail Tanvir cemented Multan Sultans' place at the pinnacle of the Pakistan Super League group table with a game still to play, with Peshawar Zalmi falling three runs short of a fifth win and a chance to seal a semi-final place in an empty National Stadium in Karachi.

The match was the first to be played in the PSL following Thursday's announcement that the tournament will proceed behind closed doors due to the global coronavirus outbreak, with the remaining fixtures set to be split between Lahore and Karachi and accessible only to accredited media, venue staff, players' families and the teams themselves.

But 23-year-old Shafiq – whose last appearance for the franchise came during a pre-tournament fixture with an MCC XI – ultimately prevailed on the night when tasked with defending a target of 155.

Conceding just two runs from his penultimate set, the seamer claimed the essential wickets of the destructive Haider Ali (one from four) and experienced Shoaib Malik (30 from 25) to set a target of 25 from the final 12 balls, but a wide and two no-balls took the game right down to the final delivery – a failed ramp shot by Zalmi tail-ender Adil Amin on PSL debut.

Support came from the evergreen Sohail Tanvir, who drew level with Imran Tahir as the side's leading bowler with 3-26 boosting his tournament collection to 10 wickets. This included removing international opener Imam-ul-Haq for 56 after 16.4 overs at the crease.

Multan's total also benefitted greatly from local wicketkeeper Zeeshan Ashraf, who was named player of the match after top-scoring with 52 from 39 deliveries and registering a partnership of 60 for the second wicket with skipper Shan Masood.

Though he became the second of Rahat Ali's three victims on the night, and Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz finished with impressive figures of 1-20 from his four overs, the 27-year-old had set the platform for Shahid Afridi and Khushdil Shah to add 47 from the final five overs, including 19 from the last six balls of the innings.

^{Zeeshan Ashraf struck a fine 50 but no fans were allowed in over coronavirus fears}

Though Multan had previously secured a top-four berth courtesy of a thumping, rain-shortened win over Islamabad United on Sunday, today's result extended their lead at the top of the table and ensured the South Punjab side's maiden playoff trip will be as first seeds.

Peshawar, however, sit third in the table following their second successive defeat and fifth of the 10-game campaign. They must now wait for the results from this weekend's final group stage clashes before finding out whether or not they will miss the playoffs for the first time in the tournament's five seasons.

However, in today's game there were certainly mitigating circumstances for the 2017 champions and 2018 and 2019 runners-up.

Earlier on Friday, tournament organisers extended emergency plans to include a re-shaped playoff format. The previous set of Qualifiers and Eliminators has been discarded in favour of a semi-final double header at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on March 17 before a final one day later, and four days earlier than originally scheduled.

The impact of the pandemic has even extended to the on-field personnel, with two Sultans and all five of Peshawar's overseas players among 14 franchise imports across the league to have cut short their stints at the tournament on Friday in order to return to their home countries.

For Multan, the departures of Hampshire top-order pair Rilee Rossouw and James Vince allowed Shafiq and Pakistan Under-19 star Rohail Nazir to make their first PSL appearances of the year and their career respectively.

The Zalmi XI – having already lost the playing services of captain Darren Sammy last week – was without Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory and Carlos Brathwaite from the squad that lost to Lahore Qalandars on Tuesday.