In the third match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021, an exciting match was played between Multan Sultans and Islamabad United on Sunday (February 21) night at the National Stadium (Karachi). Islamabad United won by 3 wickets against their opponent, Multan Sultans.
Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan won the toss and elected to bowl, sending the Multan Sultans to bat.
The Sultans’ batsmen could not settle down on the wickets in the controlled bowling of the United pacers batting first. As a result, they started losing wickets methodically to speed up the run wheel. The batsmen returned to the dressing room from one end of the wicket but Mohammad Rizwan was batting defensively at the other end. The batsman scored his half-century off 31 balls. The Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman returned to the pavilion after batting for 18.5 overs from the start of the innings. He scored 71 off 53 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to give the team a respectable score. At the end of 20 overs, Sultan scored 150 runs losing 8 wickets. Mohammad Wasim Jr. (3-29, 4 overs), Lewis Gregory (2-31, 4 overs), and Hasan Ali (1-16, 4 overs) performed well with the ball for United.
Batting in the second innings, United lost three wickets to score 55 runs in seven overs with the aggressive bowling of Sultans’ bowlers. After a while, they added 19 runs to the scoreboard and lost three more wickets. Then Lewis Gregory came on the wicket and teamed up with Faheem Ashraf. Faheem Ashraf departed whilst the team total was 117 runs but Lewis Gregory took the team to the port of victory with an inning of 49 runs off 31 balls. Carlos Brathwaite (2-23, 4 overs) and Shahid Afridi (2-24, 4 overs) performed well with the ball or the Sultans.
After winning this match, Islamabad United takes third place in the points table. On the other hand, Multan Sultans have been defeated and are in the fourth position of the points table.
Playing XIs:
Multan Sultans – Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), James Vince, Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Chris Lynn, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Sohaibullah, Carlos Brathwaite, Mohammad Umar
Islamabad United – Alex Hales, Shadab Khan (c), Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Philip Salt (wk), Hussain Talat, Lewis Gregory, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Faheem Ashraf, Zafar Gohar
Scoreboard:
Multan Sultans – 150/8 (20.0)
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Lynn, 1.5 over), 2-52 (Vince, 7.1 over), 3-87 (Rossouw, 10.4 over), 4-94 (Maqsood, 11.4 over), 5-108 (Khushdil, 13.4 over), 6-140 (Rizwan, 18.4 over), 7-140 (Afridi, 18.5 over), 8-150 (Tanvir, 19.6 over)
Islamabad United – 151/7 (19.0)
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Philip, 3.4 over), 2-43 (Shadab, 5.2 over), 3-55 (Hales, 6.6 over), 4-73 (Asif, 10.1 over), 5-74 (Iftikhar, 11 over), 6-74 (Talat, 11.1 over), 7-117 (Faheem, 15.6 over)
Player of the Match – Lewis Gregory
Result – Islamabad United won by 3 wickets
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