Sultans look to extending winning streak against United today

LAHORE: Hosts Multan Sultans will take on Islamabad United in their fourth match of the HBL Pakistan Super League-8 at the Multan Stadium on Sunday.

Multan with two games out of three already in their bag would be confident enough to overcome the fighting spirit and toughness Islamabad United is carrying in their ranks for this year’s tournament.

After having been edged out by Lahore Qalandars in the opener, Sultans tamed Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi quite reasonably in their following games and they would now be looking forward to continue their winning streak against Islamabad, no matter how much United they stand at Multan’s own backyard with their fans backing them up as well.

In their second match against Gladiators, Sultans displayed the best version of the 2021 champions. They bowled out the opposition for just 110, as Ihsanullah took a five-wicket haul. They then chased the total in the 14th over, with Rilee Rossouw scoring an unbeaten 78. Similarly, they made a quick work of Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi in the second match, one of the strongest sides of the league. Captain Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, and Rossouw were the best of their selves while Usama Mir and Ihsanullah took wickets when the team needed to break through the most.

On the other hand, United will also be confident enough for today’s game after the two-time champions would be looking for their second consecutive win, as in their inaugural match handed Karachi Kings a four-wicket defeat.

They are also second in the league after Multan Sultan and would surely be up to their best to remove them from the top. Their good batting form may overcome the bowling maneuvering Multan has shown thus far.

Bowling first in their opening match against Karachi Kings, Islamabad United restricted the opposition to 173 runs. Rumman Raees, Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Tom Curran picked up two wickets each, while Faheem Ashraf also got a wicket.

In the run chase, Shadab Khan’s team lost both openers early, but match-winning knocks from Colin Munro and Azam Khan helped them though. Munro scored a 28-ball 58 while wicket-keeper batter Azam chipped in with 44 runs.

Sultans also enjoy an upper hand if we look at their previous encounters. They have beaten Islamabad United on six occasions as compared to the five wins by Shadab’s team. In the last meeting that took place in February of last year, Sultans won comfortably by six wickets. Thus keeping in view the current performances of both the teams and their previous record, it would not be wrong to say that Multan has a clear edge over Islamabad.

Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), David Miller, Josh Little, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Akeal Hosain, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Usama Mir, Sameen Gul, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sarwar, Usman Khan, Arafat Minhas, Ihsanullah, Abbas Afridi, Kieron Pollard, Ammad Butt, Wayne Parnell, IzharulHaq Naveed.

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Sohaib Maqsood, Asif Ali, Rassie van der Dussen, Colin Munro, Hassan Nawaz, Moeen Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mubasir Khan, Tom Curran, Mohammad Waseem Jr, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azam Khan (wk), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Zafar Gohar, Rumman Raees, Zeeshan Zameer, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Tymal Mills, Gus Atkinson.