Rizwan leads Multan to victory over Islamabad

LAHORE: Mohammad Rizwan-led Multan Sultan after early glitches romped to a comfortable six wickets victory over Islamabad United in the 29th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 7, here on Sunday.

Islamabad United came up with a paltry 105 for seven 7 and Multan Sultans despite early on hiccups produced 111 runs for four wickets in 17.2 overs. Multan Sultan dominated in the 2022 League winning nine of the 10 games during the season while losing the only match to Lahore Qalandars.

Despite the defeat, Islamabad are through to the playoffs pushing Quetta Gladiators out of the race. Had Multan achieved the target against Islamabad in 23 balls, then Quetta would have had a chance for a berth in the next round.

The second round of the PSL will close with the final match between Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi on Monday. Multan and Lahore are already in the playoffs with 12 and 10 points respectively. If Qalandars lose their match against Peshawar on Monday, then they would play the eliminator playoff otherwise in the first qualifier playoff Multan will play Lahore Qalandars on February 23 (Wednesday) while in the eliminator playoff Peshawar Zalmi will meet Islamabad United on February 24 (Thursday).

It was a double header Sunday, as Quetta Gladiators defeated Karachi Kings by 23 runs earlier in the day and during the evening, Multan Sultans bowling attack ripped apart Islamabad United batting line-up, reducing them to the season’s lowest total and reaching the target with 16 balls to spare.

In their chase, Multan Sultan were shaky and regardless of an easy target they lost four wickets by the eighth over for 43. Multan skipper Mohammad Rizwan from the other end saw Shan Masood, Aamer Azmat, Khushdil Shah and Tim David sent back to the pavilion with only the latter (Tim) sulking into double figures of 17.

Rizwan and David Willey patiently and cautiously made the remaining 63 required for win. Rizwan completed yet another half century of the season making 51 in 42 balls, studded with two fours and a six while Willey 28 in 32 balls with one four and one six.

Liam Dawson was the pick of Islamabad bowlers with three including the wickets of Shan, Azmat and Khushdil while Zahid Mahmood had one. Islamabad won the toss and elected to bat first and their batters failed to pose any threat to the rival team. United’s openers Nasir Nawaz and Mohammad Huraira were totally clueless and failed to give a start Islamabad were looking for. Multan’s bowler Asif Afridi broke the opening pair in the third over as Huraira departed after scoring a mere two.

Following his departure, Islamabad kept losing wickets rather meekly. None of the Islamabad batsmen could contribute significantly to pull their ship out from sinking. English batter Liam Dawson with his brief stay at the crease made 22 runs off just 11 balls, while Mohammad Musa coming down the order was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 26 off 21 deliveries as he smashed two boundaries and as many sixes.

For the Sultans, Asif and Imran Tahir bagged two wickets each, while David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Tim David chipped in with one each. As Multan fielded unchanged squad, Islamabad played Nasir Nawaz, Mohammad Huraira, Zafar Gohar, Athar Mahmood, Zahid Mahmood and Muhammad Musa in places of Rahmanullah Gubraz, Mubasir Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, and Zahir Khan.