De Villiers, Wiese pull off a heist for Lahore Qalandars

David Wiese and AB de Villiers of Qalandars celebrate their last-ball win over Multan Sultans.

It's an often used cliche but it continues to hold true for someone like AB de Villiers.
They say 'cometh the hour and cometh the man' and the South African ace was the Lahore Qalandars knight in shining armour, pulling off a heist in the company of countryman David Wiese.
AB and Wiese breathed life into an otherwise improbable chase of 200 to nick a last-ball thriller by six wickets against Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Multan Sultans' openers James Vince and Umar Siddiq had rocked up with brilliant knocks as they racked up 200-6, the highest total of this edition and the second highest in PSL history.
The highest this season had been the Karachi Kings' 183-6 against the Multan Sultans in Dubai, while the highest total is 203 by the Quetta Gladiators against coincidentally, the Qalandars, in the inaugural edition in 2016.
Meanwhile, Vince conjured the highest individual score of 84, besting the previous highest of 82 scored by the Kings' Liam Livingstone against the Sultans.
But those were reduced to a sideshow as AB and Wiese provided a classic.
Having flown under the radar with scores that were nothing much to write home about, AB unleashed a special at a packed Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
He smacked an unbeaten 29-ball 52 with three boundaries and three sixes, while Wiese matched him with an unbeaten 45 from 20 deliveries with a whopping five sixes, the last one off Dan Christian, sealing the game with three needed off the final ball.
The pair put on 98 runs in 7.3 overs for the unbroken fifth wicket. Opener Fakhar Zaman had set them on the road with 63 from 35 deliveries.
Earlier, de Villiers' decision to bowl first in the first of the double-headers in Sharjah, seemed to have backfired as the Multan Sultans piled up 200 for six, following those blistering knocks by their openers James Vince and Umar Siddiq.
The pair were off to a blazing start and the Qalandars bowling attack no answers to their blitzkrieg.
Their mammoth 135-run alliance at the top laid the brickwork for the Sultans to eye a total in excess of 200.
It could've been much worse for the Qalandars if not for leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, who brought them back into the contest. The 18-year-old leg spinner from Nepal, who was making his PSL debut, following his stint in Australia's Big Bash, snapped up three wickets.
Although he was a tad expensive in his four overs, going for 46 runs, the youngster from the remote Chitwan province, pulled things back for the Qalandars. It was Vince who set the tone, with his scintillating knock coming from just 41 deliveries, with a generous spread of seven boundaries and half a dozen sixes. Wiltshire, who plays county cricket for Hampshire, showed the way and Siddiq took the cue. The 26-year-old, formerly with Islamabad United, was the ideal support act for Vince, stroking his half-century from 38 balls, smoking four boundaries and two sixes.
james@khaleejtimes.com