Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans, Rawalpindi
Usman Khan's unbeaten 50-ball 100 went in vain as Islamabad United secured a last-ball win over Multan Sultans in the high-scoring encounter at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium to seal a place in the playoffs. With seven runs needed off the last two balls, Imad Wasim smashed a six and a boundary to help the hosts over the line in the 229-run chase.
Put in to bat, Multan made a strong start with Mohammad Rizwan and Yasir Khan smashing 44 runs in 4.3 overs before the latter departed. Rizwan too fell in the powerplay, with 58 runs on the board. However, Usman and Johnson Charles continued the assault.
The duo took time to get going, but began the charge in the 11th over smashing Hunain Shah for two boundaries and a six. A similar treatment was meted out to Shadab Khan and Tymal Mills in the following overs, a three-over phase in which they picked up 50 runs. Hunain dropped Charles in the 14th over but the West Indian couldn't cash in on it, falling to Faheem Ashraf in the next over.
Usman reserved the most brutal attack for Shadab in the 16th over, hammering the leggie for 19 runs. Even as Islamabad's below-par effort in the field continued, with Hunain dropping another catch, a couple of fine overs in the death by Naseeem Shah limited the damage and kept Sultans to 228/4.
Islamabad were put on the back foot early in the chase, with Alex Hales and Agha Salman departing cheaply. However, Colin Munro wasted little time in going on the counter-offensive. In the company of Shadab, he took the team to 65 runs in the powerplay, and the score zoomed to 120 for 2 by the end of the ninth over. It began with the duo hammering three sixes off Usama Mir in the sveenth over and then hammering the leggie for 20 more runs in the ninth over.
The visitors clawed their way back with Afridi dismissing Shadab and Azam Khan in the 13th over, and Chris Jordan accounting for the dismissal of Munro in the next. Islamabad were reduced to 157 for 5 by the end of the 14th over, needing 72 runs in the last six.
Haider Ali wasted little time and piled the pressure on Usama with three successive boundaries. The leggie went on to bowl his quota of overs and ended up conceding 68 runs without a wicket.
With 12 runs needed off the last over Ashraf drove Afridi for a boundary off the second ball but the pacer returned to bowl a couple of tight deliveries leaving the hosts with seven runs to get off the last two balls. However, Imad completed the finishing act.
Brief Scores: Multan Sultans 228/4 in 20 overs (Usman Khan 100*, Johnson Charles 42; Faheem Ashraf 2-32) lost to Islamabad United 232/7 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 84, Shadab Khan 54; Abbas Afridi 3-40, Mohammad Ali 2-44) by 3 wickets.
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