Hendricks hit a 46-ball 58 in the chase.

A controlled fifty from Reeza Hendricks (58 off 46) followed a strong performance from Multan Sultans bowlers as the they registered a scrappy five-wicket win over Islamabad United in Multan on Tuesday (February 20). Mohammad Ali (3/19) was excellent with the new ball and at the death, while Abbas Afridi (3/33) and Usama Mir (2/29) provided the ideal foil as the hosts' bowling attack chipped away at the wickets.

On a slightly two-paced surface, Multan skipper Mohammad Rizwan made a surprising call to bowl first, given that dew hadn't made a considerable impact at this venue. However, his bowlers backed it up with a potent show right from the get-go. David Willey got some movement upfront, as did Ali with the latter making things difficult for Islamabad's explosive opening pair of Alex Hales and Colin Munro. With the squeeze on from the get-go, both batters perished inside the powerplay to give Multan the early advantage in the game.

Agha Salman (52 off 43) and Jordan Cox (41 off 28) then put the innings on track with a solid 68-run stand. The former was lucky to be dropped a few times with Khushdil Shah the culprit on all occasions. Once the duo got their eye in, boundaries began to flow, albeit not at the rate seen in the Lahore leg. There was some grip on offer for spinners and Mir probed away accurately to stifle the batters. The odd boundary came, but there was no momentum and it forced a well-set Cox to try the switch hit, only to be trapped LBW.

Azam Khan came out with the intention to take down Mir and even clubbed a six but the leggie had the last laugh. The older ball proved to be even tougher to hit and Multan's bowlers stuck to the basics by attacking the stumps. Islamabad weren't tactically sharp either, and skipper Shadab Khan's decision to demote himself to no.7 was baffling, given his stunning form in the opening game. By the time he came to bat, Islamabad's innings was in shambles. He tried, as did Salman but Sultans' death bowling was on point.

The innings had a crash-landing with just four runs off the last 11 balls for the loss of four wickets. With a below-par total to defend, Islamabad needed early wickets and Naseem Shah struck in his first over by cleaning up Dawid Malan with an inswinger. The pacer should have had Rizwan first ball but for a dropped catch by Imad Wasim at cover point. Naseem, though, produced an inspired burst with the new ball although he couldn't pick up another wicket in that spell. Rizwan showed intent and his aggression gave Multan a steady powerplay that was par for the chase.

The Multan skipper put on 71 for the second wicket with Reeza Hendricks to put the chase in cruise control. The South African was a shaky starter but grew in confidence as his innings progressed. Rizwan looked fluent and set for a big knock but misjudged a slider from Shadab to be trapped LBW. The skipper's dismissal started a phase from where Islamabad started to drag the game deep. Combination of the older ball and the sluggish nature of the track helped the bowlers to put a lid on the scoring rate. Multan also chose to take the game deep due to a couple of wickets and it nearly backfired.

The required rate shot up to 9.75 runs-per-over with 39 needed off the last 24 deliveries. Considering the nature of the track, Islamabad were right in it before Hendricks switched gears. The South African took apart Shadab in the leg-spinner's final over, plundering 17 runs to spoil his figures and also bring the equation down to gettable terms. Hendricks perished next over but timely hits from Iftikhar Ahmed and David Willey meant that the result was sealed, even though the margin was too close for comfort.