Mohammad Wasim Jr returned figures of 4-31 to help Islamabad United beat Multan Sultans by four wickets in Match 30 of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Islamabad finished the league phase at top of the points table, with eight wins and two defeats. Multan are at second place, six points behind Islamabad. The two teams will again meet in Qualifier on 21 June.
Islamabad rested their key players like Hasan Ali, Usman Khawaja and Colin Munro in the Multan fixture. Shan Masood (59 off 37) and Mohammad Rizwan (26 off 24) shared a 93-run opening stand before Iftikhar Ahmed (1-11) and Fawad Ahmed (2-25) dismissed them respectively.
Wasim Jr then tore the Multan middle-order batters apart to bowl them out for 149. Apart from Masood and Rizwan, no batter scored in excess of 20. Faheem Ashraf had impressive figures of 2-25 on his return in four overs.
Mohammad Akhlaq (26 off 15), Umar Amin (13 off 15) and Shadab Khan (35 off 27) smashed 54 runs in the Powerplay. Hussain Talat (34 off 33) and Asif Ali (25 off 16) added 41 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter fell to Usman Qadir (2-22).
Despite late batting collapse, the chase was always under Islamabad’s control as they reached the target with two balls to spare. Shahnawaz Dhani (2-25), the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, claimed two scalps.
Brief Scores
Multan Sultans 149 in 20 overs (Masood 59; Wasim Jr 4-31) lost to Islamabad United 150/6 in 19.4 overs (Shadab 35; Dhani 2-21) by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Mohammad Wasim Jr.