01 Feb 2022 By Know Muslim
Two-time PSL champions Islamabad United will take on defending champions Multan Sultans today at the National Stadium Karachi at 7:30pm.
Sultans are at the top of the points table with six points to their name as they have not yet lost a single of the three matches they've played so far.
Meanwhile, United stand at second position of the points table with two points as they have won the single game they have played so far.
KARACHI: For the first time in the seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League, a team winning the toss ended up losing the match when Multan Sultans beat Quetta Gladiators by six runs in the most nail-biting encounter of the tournament yet.
The match ended on the penultimate ball of the match with Quetta needing seven off two, when Nasim Shah, arriving at number 10, was caught smartly by Tim David on square-leg off David Willey. The Singaporean tossed the ball up after getting half a hold of it, stepped across the boundary line and then completed the catch and Multan’s third victory in a row.
It wouldn’t have come to this, had it not been a freakish show by all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed, who launched an onslaught against Imran Khan in the 17th with the Gladiators needing 50 off 24 before that.
The powerful right-hander flicked, pulled and hit straight for three sixes and smashed for a boundary down the ground in the over which saw 24 runs being scored.
However, he fell on the second ball of the next over, when he was caught behind off David Willey with skipper Mohammad Rizwan taking a crucial catch after Iftikhar had added 30 off 13 balls.
The Gladiators must have felt they have lost their last hope, but veteran all-rounder Sohail Tanvir hit a four and six off Shahnawaz Dahani in the next over, which also saw James Faulkner run out for 18 following a mix up.
But Tanvir, too, couldn’t handle the pressure as he got caught at deep square-leg on the second last ball of the match after scoring 13.
The Gladiators got off to a shaky start in their pursuit of 175, with slow left-armer Khushdil Shah sending openers Will Smeed and Ahsan Ali back to the pavilion within the first three overs.
The Sultans sit top of the table with 6 points in 3 matches, going unbeaten so far in the tournament.