MULTAN: It all came down to who maintained composure in a game where momentum flowed from one team to the other. Finally, the Multan Sultans defeated Islamabad United in the process.
At the Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, the Sultans emerged victorious by five wickets even though both sides were tied until the very last ball of play.
Multan Sultans chased down a 145-run target, and despite Reeza Hendricks’ half-century and captain Mohammad Rizwan’s vital knock at the top of the order keeping their hopes alive till the very end, Iftikhar Ahmed’s 18-run cameo sent Multan Sultans over the finish line.
When he witnessed Hendricks lose his wicket to Tymal Mills at the other end in the middle of the eighteenth over, Iftikhar was having difficulty putting bat to ball, playing at eight off twelve balls.
Iftikhar, sensing his duty as a senior player at that time, hit the left-arm for a six over deep midwicket, requiring Multan Sultans to need 13 runs in the final two overs.
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After Naseem Shah had Khushdil Shah caught out after two balls, Islamabad appeared to be ahead, but David Willey, the last man, destroyed their hopes with a four-ball drive that went over the off-side.
That proved to be the final boundary of the game, as Multan Sultans only needed four runs from Mills’ final over to win. Iftikhar scrambled for a last-gasp single to give the home team its second victory in two games, but all of those came off singles.
Both Hendricks and Rizwan must be regretting lost catches; Hendricks was given fresh life at number twelve, while Imad Wasim spilled the former off Naseem on the first ball of the innings.
Hendricks hit 58 off 46, while Rizwan took advantage of the opportunity to add 44 off 33 before being trapped leg before wicket by a Shadab Khan flipper.
On a challenging surface, Rizwan was meeting the ball when it entered his zone, punishing mishandled deliveries with a leg-side swipe, and pulling and flicking Ubaid Shah and Faheem Ashraf for sixes.
Even though Naseem Ripper claimed opening partner Dawid Malan, the Pakistani wicketkeeper’s exploits saw Multan Sultans reach 44-1 by the end of the powerplay.
In the ninth over, the right-hander swept the bowler for the third and fourth boundaries before hitting an inside-out shot over the covers off Imad’s left-arm spin.
After medium pacer Tymal Mills was smashed for two boundaries by Hendricks, who had been bowling a little slower by then, Multan Sultans reached 77-1 at the midway mark before Rizwan succumbed.
Yasir Khan was dismissed in a match when fielding standards had been subpar thanks to a remarkable performance by Jordan Cox and Alex Hales on the wide long-on boundary for Islamabad.
As he cleared the boundary’s skirting, Cox threw the ball into the air so that Hales could safely collect it, sprinting in from deep midwicket to reach beneath it and retain it.
Multan’s search for one big over continued while the equation remained balanced. And it was when Shadab entered the 17th bowl. Hendricks pounced on the chance, hitting the spinner for a six over deep midwicket, then scooping and pulling for two more boundaries to reach his second half century in a row.
The Sultans needed 21 off 18 balls after the assault, but Hendricks fell four balls later, edging Mills to Faheem Ashraf at deep third man before Iftikhar assumed the lead.
Abbas Afridi and Mohammad Ali, two impressive bowling performances that ripped through the United line-up and claimed three wickets apiece, bowled brilliantly to restrict Islamabad to what turned out to be a manageable score.
Ali had an even better final score of 3-19, while Abbas recorded 3-33.
Both got going right away as Islamabad found it difficult to capitalize on the powerplay while Multan maintained tight conditions with the new ball. Hales and Colin Munro, the openers, were forced off the field early. Munro’s stumps were clattered by Mohammad Ali’s speed as Hales skied Willey high off his top edge to be caught in the circle.
In the first six overs, Islamabad could only muster 32. They might have suffered more if Khushdil had held onto a straightforward catch to dismiss Cox off Abbas. Salman Ali Agha was given a second chance at life when Khushdil dropped yet another sitter.
After the Pakistani batsman hit a four in the next over, Cox did as well, and United reached the halfway point with 67-2.
Cox appeared dangerous when he smashed pacer Olly Stone for a massive six six sixes, but six balls later, leg-spinner Usama Mir trapped him leg-before-head for 41.
After hitting a four and a six, Usama struck once again in the next two overs to remove Azam Khan from the game. When he played Abbas onto his stumps, Imad came next.
Salman kept the Islamabad scoreboard moving despite the mayhem on the other end by hitting two fours off Abbas and a stunning six off Usama to reach the fifty-run mark. However, after the pacer had castled captain Shadab in the last over, Salman became the second victim for the former.
To end United’s innings, Ali claimed two more wickets in the last over.
Scoreboard
Islamabad United
Batters and dismissal methods R B 4s 6s SR
61.53 Colin Munro b Ali 8 13 1 0
Alex Hales b Willey 2 c Khushdil 8 0 0 $25.00
Salman Ali Agha 52 43 3 2 120.93 b Abbas c Khushdil
Jordan Cox 41 28 2 2 146.42 lbw b Usama
Willey c Azam Khan b Usama 13 10 1 1 130.00
Abbas Imad Wasim 0 3 0 0.00
Abbas, Shadab Khan, 11 9 1 0 122.22
Hendricks c Faheem Ashraf b Ali 1 2 0 0 50.00
Naseem Shah was eliminated 2 4 0 0 50.00.
Ali, Ubaid Shah, 0 2 0 0.00
0 1 0 0.00 is not out for Tymal Mills.
B-5, LB-3, NB-3, W-3 EXTRAS 14
TOTAL: 144 (all out in 20 overs)
WICKET FALL: 1–9 (Hales), 2–14 (Munro), 3-82 (Cox), 4-100 (Azam), 5-105 (Imad), 6-140 (Shadab), 7–141 (Salman), 8–141 (Faheem), and 9–141 (Ubaid)
Willey 4-0-26-1, Ali 4-0-19-3 (2nb), Stone 3.4-0-28-0 (2w), Abbas 4-0-33-3 (1w, 1nb), Usama 4-0-29-2, Khushdil 0.2-0-1-0 are the bowling scores.
Multiple Sundanese:
Batters and dismissal methods R B 4s 6s SR
