Match Details
In pursuit of a hefty total of 191, the Islamabad United openers started well but it wasn’t long enough before Mohammad Ilyas broke the opening stand by dismissing the Irish batter Paul Stirling 5(5). The youngster Hasan Nawaz continued on the other hand displayed some captivating shots. Just when the right-hander was starting to go berserk, Mohammad Ilyas claimed his second wicket by deceiving Nawaz 21(16) with a sharp bumper.
Rassie van der Dussen and in-form Colin Muro then got together and supplied immediate acceleration to the United innings. The duo took the scorecard to 55 after the end of the powerplay. The left-right pair of Munro and Rassie brought United back into the contest by stitching a much-important 56-run partnership. However, Usama Mir swung the pendulum again with two magical wickets. The leg-break bowler first dismissed well-set Munro 31(23) and then outwitted United skipper Shadab Khan 1(3).
Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first, the visitors started the innings on a high note Rumman Raees dismissed left-handed Shan Masood 3(4) early on inside the powerplay. Despite a decent start, Islamabad United was substandard in the field and squandered two opportunities to dismiss Mohammad Rizwan. The Sultans’ skipper made the most out of the dropped chances and stationed Multan at 51/1 after the end of the powerplay.
The right-hander Rizwan was joined by Rilee Rossouw and the duo gathered the momentum for Sultans by accelerating the innings. The left-right duo propelled the run rate at almost 10 in two shakes and Rizwan completed his half-century. Following that, United attained two quick breakthroughs as Tom Curran dismissed Rossouw for 36(30) and that was followed by the huge wicket of skipper Rizwan 50(38).
The United must have anticipated a turnaround after two quick wickets, but David Miller and Kieron Pollard had other arrangements. They swatted runs all around the park and handed the momentum again to Sultans. The duo stitched a quick 78-run partnership and Miller crossed the fifty mark before returning in the final over for 52(25). The big man Kieron Pollard continued the assault and his 32* (21) took Multan to a hefty total of 190. Stick around for the post-match presentation!