Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars, Qualifier - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

So, Multan are one step away from successfully defending their title. It's been some juggernaut this for Rizwan's men. It hasn't been a flawless campaign but whenever they've been in a crisis, they've found a way like champion teams do. It was on display yet again tonight. As for Lahore, that late season troubles continue to haunt them as they're now on a two-match losing streak heading to Eliminator 2. Not all is lost though and they'll hope to make that second chance count to reach the final. The home crowd surely will hope so. Before that, we have a cracking game tomorrow in prospect, Islamabad facing Peshawar. Let's hope it's a more competitive game than tonight. On that note, it's Hari Sadanandan signing off, on behalf of Akshay Maanay and Siva. Cheers!

Mohammad Rizwan | Multan skipper: We were planning to keep wickets in hand, and credit goes to Rossouw and Azmat who did well. I wasn't able to play as fluidly as I usually do but they did really well. At the break, I felt that 160-170 was a good score, a winning score. The bowlers did really well, especially the spinners first and then Dahani along with Willey did well. (On what changed after the last timeout) Well, we were relaxed in that break and I just told the boys that these are situations from which champion teams rise. And we're a champion side. Wanted the boys to give it their all, and they did, which helped us win. I do get angry a few times but it goes unnoticed. I thought we summed up the conditions well. With just two down, we could have been disappointed not getting 200 but the conditions were such that 160-plus was a tricky score. The boys accepted that and did their best.

Shaheen Afridi | Lahore skipper: Credit to Multan for reaching the final. Rizwan captained well and rotated the bowlers well. Coming to the first half, I think we gave about 10 runs extra in those last four overs between me and Rauf. Overall, good cricket was played. Fakhar has improved a lot and we're hoping he continues to keep performing for both our side and Pakistan.

Shahnawaz Dahani | Player of the Match: Really glad to reach the final. The pitch was playing different today, so the captain was confident of it (the total) being defended. He used the spinners early and knew that the pacers could get some reverse later on. There was good reverse on offer and it wasn't coming onto the bat properly. Plan was to hit the hard length as it wasn't easy to hit from there.

23:26 Local Time, 18:26 GMT, 23:56 IST: This is an effort that Multan will be extremely proud of. The total they had wasn't par, but they bowled brilliantly in the first half of the chase to create huge pressure on Lahore's batting line-up. Then, Fakhar exploded with a flurry of sixes and at that point, a win seemed like a guarantee of sorts for the home side, particularly with them having an extra batter in today. 65 runs, 42 balls and eight wickets left, the chasing side strolls home more often than not. Wasn't to be today. Dahani, who was held back completely by Rizwan, started the slide by removing Brook and Willey snared the massive one of Fakhar to completely derail the chase. Lahore never recovered from these blows and eventually fell way short. Special word for Multan's death bowling - truly world class stuff.

Dahani to Haris Rauf, no run, slower ball, keeps very low and sneaks well beneath Rauf's swinging blade. Defending champs Multan storm into the final

Dahani to Haris Rauf, no run, too fast and too short for Rauf who heaves more in hope than anything else

Dahani to Haris Rauf, no run, slower ball, very full, Rauf mistimes the drive down to long-off. Declines the single. Zaman Khan isn't happy though

Dahani to Haris Rauf, wide, pacy and shortish but a tad too wide outside off. Rauf wasn't reaching this

Dahani to Haris Rauf, no run, slower ball, well outside off, Rauf swings and misses

Dahani to Haris Rauf, no run, hard length, Rauf goes hard at it again, mistimes the flat-batted hit down to long-on

Dahani to Haris Rauf, SIX, well, that's one six! Low full toss, Rauf swings hard at this and gets it comfortably over deep mid-wicket

Final formalities to be done. In case you're still curious, Lahore just need six sixes to finish this. Yeah, it's that simple. Multan's man of the final to close things out.

Raees to Zaman Khan, no run, fuller and straighter, blocked out

Raees to Zaman Khan, no run, another slower ball, on that good length spot and Khan fails to connect

Raees to Zaman Khan, no run, slower ball, keeps very low and Khan is anyway well early into the slog. Misses

Raees to Zaman Khan, no run, another pinpoint leg stump yorker, Khan can't do much except dig it out

Zaman Khan, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Raees to Wiese, out Lbw!! The final nail in the coffin for Lahore! Wiese does have the prowess to finish games but such has been the quality of Multan's death bowling that they have given these hitters nothing at all. Raees produces a scorching yorker, right on the base of leg stump and it sneaks past Wiese's heaving blade, striking him flush on the back leg. Looked stone dead in real time and umpire Aleem Dar was quick to raise his finger. Wiese of course did the formality of reviewing it but he knew that he had no chance of escaping. Three Reds on ball tracking. Wiese lbw b Raees 8(7)

Raees to Wiese, THATS OUT!! Lbw!!