Daily Times

KARACHI: Multan Sultans defeated Islamabad United in an intense match by 20 runs, continuing their unbeaten streak in the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition at the National Stadium Karachi here on Tuesday night. Chasing a formidable victory target of 218, despite the top order’s early collapse, Shadab Khan played a sensational inning and scored 91 runs off 42 balls with the help of five fours and nine sixes. No other batter could score even 25 runs against a strong Multans’ bowling attack, who were able to restrict Islamabad to 197 all out in 20 overs. Khushdil Shah picked up four wickets, David Willey three, while Anwar Ali and Rumman Raees took a scalp each.

The Islamabad captain, Shadab, arrived at the crease in the sixth over after Paul Stirling and Alex Hales had provided a quick start in reply to Multan’s score of 217, racing to 22 off his first eight deliveries. Although two wickets from Khushdil in the eighth over threatened to quieten things, Shadab continued striking boundaries virtually every over to keep Islamabad in the game. With 55 to get off the final over four overs, Shadab looked like pulling off a miracle for his team before a quiet 18th over all but sealed the match for Multan.

Earlier, Tim David (71) and Rilee Rossouw (67 not out) played exceptionally well to help Multan made 217 for the loss of five wickets. After being invited to bat first, Multan were in a fix as Mohammad Rizwan (12) and Sohaib Maqsood (13) were dismissed under five overs. But Shan Masood kept playing and scored 43 runs off 31 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes. His partnership with Rossouw ended in the ninth over when Marchant de Lange got his wicket. Later, Rossouw and David punished the Islamabad bowlers and put up impressive runs on the board.

On their way, the pair took Multan to their highest PSL score, and the fourth-highest in the tournament’s history. The 14 sixes that they hit were also the joint second-most in an innings in the PSL, and the 144 runs they scored off the last 10 overs were the third-most by any team. The majority of that damage was done in the final six overs, in which Multan piled up 107 runs. In the 19th over, Mohammad Wasim dismissed David for 71, but the damage had been done. The last over was also good for Multan as Hasan Ali took a wicket but Rossouw kept the scoreboard ticking and added 21 runs to the total, with the help of three sixes.

Brief scores: Multan Sultans 217 for 5 (Tim David 71, Rilee Rossouw 67 not out, Imad Wasim 1-39) beat Islamabad United 197 (Shadab Khan 91, Khushdil Shah 4-35, David Willey 3-38) by 20 runs.

Today’s Match

Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars at 07:30 PM