Islamabad United emerged victorious in a thrilling last-over contest against Multan Sultans after storming performance from Faheem Ashraf, who scored 26-ball 51 runs along with Shadab Khan’s all-round performance in the 24th match of the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
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While Islamabad United have already qualified for the PSL playoffs, Multan Sultans have climbed to number three position at PSL points table after today’s match inching closer to securing a spot in upcoming playoffs.
Also See: Watch full match scorecard and highlights for Islamabad United and Multan Sultan PSL Match today
MULTAN SULTANS’ INNINGS
Multan Sultans won the toss and chose to bat first against Islamabad United in the marquee tournament. Their opening batsman Shan Masood played a blistering knock of 75 off 50 balls, with the help of 12 fours and a six. Sultans’ skipper Mohammad Rizwan partnered with Masood and scored a quickfire 33 off 18 balls, including one boundary and three sixes. The partnership between Rizwan and Masood was 57 off just 37 balls.
Later on, Masood combined with Tim David for a partnership of 80 off 38 balls, with David contributing a blazing 60 off 27 balls, smashing four boundaries and five sixes. The rest of the Sultans’ batters, including Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, and Kieron Pollard, failed to show any significant resistance.
In response, Islamabad United’s bowling performance was ordinary, except for skipper Shadab Khan, who picked up two wickets by conceding only 26 runs. Mohammad Wasim also picked up two wickets, but conceded 48 runs. Faheem Ashraf also took a wicket but was a bit expensive, giving away 38 runs.
In the end, the Sultans set a challenging target of 205-5 for United to chase.
ISLAMABAD UNITED’S INNINGS
The United were tasked with chasing down a target of 206 set by the Sultans. They managed to surpass the total with one ball to spare, scoring 209-8 in total.
Faheem Ashraf led the charge for the United, scoring an unbeaten 26-ball 51 which included five boundaries and two sixes.
Skipper Shadab Khan also put in a belligerent performance, smashing three fours and three sixes for his 25-ball 44.
Colin Munro, who had shown significant resistance in the tournament previously, contributed with a 38-ball 40, featuring four boundaries and three sixes.
Munro and skipper Shadab combined to anchor the team’s innings and form a partnership of 59 off 30 deliveries. However, Munro was eventually dismissed by Usama Mir, while Ihsanullah took the wicket of Shadab Khan.
Faheem Ashraf continued his blistering form, scoring 51 off just 26 balls, which included five boundaries and two maximums.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributed with a 14-ball 25, featuring five boundaries, while Mohammad Wasim smashed a boundary and a six in his 7-ball 16.
However, the rest of the batting order, including Alex Hales (1), Azam Khan (3), Asif Ali (8), Mubasir Khan (5), and Rumman Raees, failed to make significant contributions.
Anwar Ali stood out for the Sultans with the ball, claiming three wickets while conceding just 33 runs. Inhsanullah and Usama Mir both took two wickets each, while Abbas Afridi also managed to pick up a scalp, albeit conceding 44 runs.
Mohammad Ilyas proved to be the most expensive of all the Sultans’ bowlers, giving away 55 runs without taking a wicket.
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