Defending champion Multan Sultans beat Islamabad United in high-scoring PSL match

ISLAMABAD: Defending champion Multan Sultans kept their winning streak intact as they defeated Islamabad United on Tuesday by 20 runs in the eighth Pakistan Super League (PSL) match played at the National Stadium Karachi.
Islamabad won the toss and elected to bowl. However, the two-time title winner could not prevent Multan from hitting a huge total of 217 runs even after taking an early wicket of skipper Mohammed Rizwan who had only scored 12 runs.
Opener Shan Masood stayed at the crease and hit 43 runs with a strike rate of 138.71.
While Multan were 78 for 3, their innings was stabilized by Rilee Rossouw (67 off 35 balls) and Tim David (71 off 29 deliveries) who took their team to 188 through their long partnership.
Multan lost another wicket of Khushdil Shah (8) after David’s departure, though they managed to set a huge target of 218 runs for Islamabad at the loss of 5 wickets.
Islamabad’s opening pair, Paul Stirling (19) and Alex Hales (23), tried to set a blistering pace of the innings but could not survive the powerplay.
Captain Shadab Khan was the only batsman who fought back and almost won the match on his own by scoring 91 runs off 42 balls, but he lost his wicket in the 18 over while trying to hit a six.
Shadab took Islamabad’s score to 194/9 before Mohammad Wasim was bowled out by David Willey on 197.
This is the fourth consecutive victory for Multan Sultans in the tournament.
Islamabad United have so far played two matches and defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 9 wickets in their first PSL contest.