Multan Sultans overcame Shadab Khan’s blistering 91 off 42 balls to beat Islamabad United by 20 runs and notch their fourth successive win in the Pakistan Super League on Tuesday.
Powerful half-centuries by Tim David (71) and Rillee Rossouw (67 not out) had lifted Multan to 217-5 as the defending champion smashed 93 runs off the last five overs against Islamabad fast bowlers.
Islamabad skipper Shadab duly capitalized on three dropped catches and kept his team in the hunt of a record PSL run-chase by hitting nine sixes and five fours. But the two-time champion Islamabad fell short of the target after Shadab holed out in the penultimate over and his team was finally bowled out for 197 in 19.4 overs.
Left-arm spinner Khushdil Shah (4-35) and David Willey (3-38) kept striking with regular intervals as Islamabad batters tried ambitious shots in pursuit of a big target.
Despite holding on to some impressive catches that included Shah’s brilliant running catch off his own bowling to dismiss Asif Ali (15), Multan provided too many chances to Shadab. Anwar Ali dropped a sitter before Shadab had completed his half-century while Sohaib Maqsood floored a difficult chance at deep extra cover soon after Shadab had completed his half-century.
Shah also provided Shadab another opportunity when he tipped the ball for a six as he attempted a difficult catch over his head.
Earlier, after being put into bat, Islamabad had controlled the game until the 15th over with Multan scoring 124-3. But David and Rossouw cut loose in the death overs by hammering boundaries at will against the erratic Islamabad fast bowlers.
Hasan Ali (1-52) went for 35 in his last two overs while Faheem Ashraf (0-47) was hit for 21 in his fourth over. Left-arm fast bowler Marchant de Lange was also not spared by David and Rossouw as they hit him for three sixes and a four in the 18th over.
Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim (1-39) conceded three boundaries in the penultimate over and also found the edge of David’s but not before the batter had smashed six sixes and a half-dozen boundaries in his roller-coaster knock off 29 balls.
Rossouw provided the ideal finish by hitting Hasan for three sixes in the final over as the South African remained unbeaten in his 35-ball knock and hit six sixes and four boundaries.
Multan now looks a formidable outfit in the six-team event after they successfully defended the total twice in two days.
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