F.P. Report
MULTAN: Multan Sultans on Tuesday defeated Islamabad United by five wickets in last over thriller in fifth match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine in Multan.
Sultans skipper Mohammad Rizwan took a strong opening start with 43 runs but his partner went for duck. Reeza Hendricks joined him on the crease and smashed 58 off 46.
After Rizwan and Yasir Khan were dismissed in quick sessions, Iftikhar Ahmed showed his power-hitting skills and helped his side clinch victory in final over.
Earlier, Sultans won the toss and put United to bat first. The Shadab Khan’s side had set a target of 145 runs for Multan Sultans. The opening by the red force was unimpressive as Colin Munro and Alex Hales were dismissed in early blows to the United.
At this point, Agha Salman and Jordan Cox stitched much-needed third wicket partnership to boost the total as they smashed 52 and 41, respectively.
After their dismissal, no batter, including Azam Khan, failed to show their skills due to impressive bowling by Sultans.
Abbas Afridi and Mohammad Ali claimed three-wicket haul each while Usama Mir two wickets, restricting United from building a tough total.
Both teams were undefeated so far as Multan have beaten Karachi Kings by 55 runs and Islamabad annihilated defending champions Lahore by eight wickets in their first matches in the on-going tournament.
Though Multan skipper Muhammad Rizwan could not display his mettle in the opening match, his team played like a well-knit unit and rang alarm bells for the opponents.
Islamabad, on the other hand, was led from the front by their captain Shadab Khan who could not be tamed by the formidable bowling attack of Lahore.
The PSL 9, unlike the previous season, has so far produced high-scoring encounters as the groundsmen seemed to have prepared surfaces that favour batting. No-one can predict outcome of today’s match as the tournament is in early stages. However, Multan will have advantage of playing on home ground.
