Multan Sultans 170 for 5 (Rizwan 82, Ifthikar 34*, Afridi 2-25) beat Lahore Qalandars 166 for 5 (van der Dussen 54, Fakhar 41, Ali 2-28) by five wickets

Qalandars' much-trumpeted pace attack, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, has now failed to defend in three successive games, as Haris Rauf continued to struggle and Zaman Khan also proving expensive (2-52).

Sultans now sit pretty on top of the table with six points from three straight home wins, while Qalandars are yet to get first win under their belt.

Iftikhar wiped the hopes of Qalandars for its first win with a robust knock of unbeaten 34 off 11 balls after the home team needed 21 off the last two overs.

The inclusion of left-arm spinner George Linde (1 for 26) of South Africa seemed to have beefed up Qalandars' bowling in the absence of injured Rashid Khan when he bowled brilliantly in the middle overs after Qalandars posted 166 for 5, but Iftikhar's onslaught against Zaman sealed the game.

Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen (54) scored his second half-century in three games and Fakhar Zaman made 41 as they put on 94 runs for the second-wicket stand and pushed for a daunting total before Sultans pulled back despite dropping four catches.