Lahore Qalandars got their first win of PSL 2018 when they stunned league leaders Multan Sultans by six wickets on Friday night at Dubai International Stadium.

Here are the three key points from the match:

Shaheen Afridi takes centre stage

The 17-year-old pacer had already been earmarked as one for the future by Lahore Qalandars coach Aaqib Javed before the tournament and you only have to look at Friday’s performance to see why. The youngster has endured a frustrating start to his first PSL, going wicketless in his previous three matches but that run finally ended in some style.

Multan Sultans seemed to be on course to post an imposing total, as at one point they were on 91-2. But Afridi rattled the batting order with two magical overs that left spectators at Dubai International Stadium in awe. His second over saw him rewarded with three key wickets in four balls – Shoaib Malik, Ross Whiteley and Saif Badar. He then wrapped up the innings with two wickets in consecutive deliveries as he produced overall figures of 5-4 in 3.4 overs.

A new batting position for Brendon McCullum?

For years, we have seen the former New Zealand batsman create havoc for the bowlers as an opening batsman. But in Lahore’s last two matches, McCullum has come down the batting order at No.5. In Thursday’s defeat to Islamabad United, he scored an unbeaten 33 and again against Multan Sultans was also effective with the bat.

When runs are needed at the death as shown when Lahore needed 17 from 18 balls, teams need batsmen to keep their cool and deal with the pressure. With 16 years of experience behind him in a career that has seen him play Tests, ODIs, T20I and major T20 competitions, McCullum certainly falls into the category. Fortunately for Lahore, McCullum was at the crease on Friday and he duly delivered when it mattered, hitting the winning boundary in his unbeaten knock of 35 to seal their first win.

With him being effective in the middle-order, expect him to continue in that position for the remainder of the competition.

Reality check for Multan Sultans

After a promising start for the tournament debutants, Tom Moody’s side have now suffered back-to-back defeats. On paper, the fixture against Lahore looked like the perfect game for them to bounce back from their defeat to Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday. They were on course to do so early on in their innings but were later stunned by Lahore. They are still top of the standings for now but Moody and the rest of the players cannot afford to drop their game going into the business end of the tournament.