Watch: Ifti Mania lands in PSL 2024 as Iftikhar Ahmed smashes Zaman Khan for three fours and two sixes in five deliveries

Iftikhar Ahmed, on Wednesday (February 21), played an absolute blinder to fire Multan Sultans to a thumping win over defending champions Lahore Qalandars in the ongoing Pakistan Super League 2024 (PSL 2024).

Batting first, the Qalandars posted a competitive total of 166 for 5. After opener Sahibzada Farhan (2) departed cheaply, Fakhar Zaman and Rassie van der Dussen steadied the ship for the Qalandars by adding 94 runs for the second wicket. Usama Mir broke the stand by dismissing van der Dussen for 54 before Abbas Afridi dismissed Zaman for 41.

In reply, the Sultans made a terrible start with the bat. They were reeling at 53 for 3 after Dawid Malan (0), Reeza Hendricks (9), and Yasir Khan (8) failed to get going with the bat. Captain Mohammad Rizwan and David Willey steadied the ship by adding 75 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iftikhar Ahmed plays a blinder:

Just when it looked like Rizwan and Willey would shift gears, Zaman Khan dismissed the former in the 17th over to turn the game on its head. The Sultan’s skipper departed after scoring 82 runs off 59 balls with the help of nine fours and three sixes. The Sultans still needed 39 runs off 21 balls at that stage.

In the 18th over, Shaheen Afridi sent back Willey as well to pile more pressure on the Multan-based outfit. However, Iftikhar Ahmed did not let the Qalandars capitalize on the breakthroughs. He opened his innings by smashing Zaman Khan for a four and did not look back. In the 18th over, Iftikhar Ahmed smashed Shaheen Afridi for a four a six.

However, the best was yet to come and it eventually came in the 19th over when he was up against Zaman. The Pakistan batter hit the fast bowler for 24 runs in the over to power his side to a thrilling win. Zaman began by bowling a dot delivery before Iftikhar Ahmed hit the next two deliveries for two fours.

The fourth and fifth deliveries were hit for sixes by the 33-year-old before he sealed the game with another four. Iftikhar eventually scored an unbeaten 34 off just 11 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes.

Watch:

IFTI MANIA 🤯

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

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) February 21, 2024