KARACHI: At the National Bank Stadium here on a Monday night, Karachi finally showed up. The house was full at the venue, which was criticised for low turnout all season, when it mattered the most.

And the HBL Pakistan Super League final did not disappoint. The crowds witnessed a thriller, which ended with Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan lifting the side’s third PSL trophy and Multan Sultans players ruing as many lost finals, this time by two wickets.

It had all come down to Imad Wasim’s nerves — he was caught on camera soothing them smoking a cigarette in the dressing room earlier, after having registered the first-ever five-wicket haul in a PSL finale.

Imad arrived at the crease after Martin Guptill was run out after scoring a half-century and putting up 47 with Azam Khan following United’s shaky start which had seen them go three down for 55 runs by the ninth over in their pursuit of 160 runs.

Multan Sultans lose their third final in a row

Imad saw Azam, Haider Ali and Faheem Ashraf fall cheaply on the other end, leaving United reeling at 129-6, needing 31 in three overs.

In came Naseem Shah — bringing with him memories of cruel match-winning knocks against Afghanistan — as he clobbered Iftikhar Ahmed for a big six over square-leg. Imad followed it up with two square drives, a magnificent one and a streaky one for two more boundaries.

Naseem (17 off 9) flicked it away off Mohammad Ali like an expert batter for four more, a leg-bye levelled the scores, only for him to edge a bouncer behind to Multan captain and wicket-keeper Rizwan on the penultimate ball.

Fittingly, he had left behind that one, winning run, for his brother Hunain to score and the right-hander squeezed it through the in-field on the off-side for a boundary, taking United across the line as the team’s whole camp ran into the ground. Out came the celebrations and the Palestine flags, as the United players waved them in their victory lap. Imad joined in, with 19 off 17 against his name.

Earlier, Multan were boosted to a competitive total by an Iftikhar onslaught in the last two overs of the innings.

In a surprising move by the side, the right-hander came into bat at number eight, with Multan having sent tailenders David Willey and Usama Mir up the order.

The move clearly did not materialise as Imad and Shadab ripped through the Sultans’ line-up, giving Iftikhar the stage to prove his worth.

The powerful batter launched medium pacer Tymal Mills out of the park in the 19th over for his first six and cleared midwicket for another on the very next ball as chants of “Chacha, Chacha” echoed round the stands.

In the last over, Iftikhar swivelled for four more, cleared backward square for another maximum and added a boundary on a no ball to spoil Naseem’s amazing figures of nine runs in three overs to 25 runs in four overs.

Iftikhar’s unbeaten 32 off 20 provided the much needed impetus to an innings that was held together by Rizwan’s 53-run partnership with Usman Khan, with the latter hitting 57 off 40 — his fourth fifty-plus score this season.

Shadab broke the stand at the halfway stage and went on to get Usman and Usama six overs later.

Imad, who had dismissed opener Yasir Khan and Willey in his opening spell and Johnson Charles in the 12th over, added the scalps of Khushdil and Chris Jordan to his name on consecutive balls in the 18th, which also saw Abbas Afridi get run out, thanks to a bullet throw by Shadab.

Scoreboard

MULTAN SULTANS:
Yasir Khan c Mills b Imad6
Mohammad Rizwan D. Willey b Imad6
Usman Khan c sub (Cox) b Shadab57
J. Charles c Naseem b Imad4
Khushdil Shah c Guptill b Imad11
Usama Mir c Hunain b Shadab6
Iftikhar Ahmed not out32
C. Jordan c Azam b Imad0
Abbas Afridi run out (Shadab)1
Mohammad Ali not out0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-3, NB-2, W-3)10
TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs)159
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Yasir), 2-14 (Willey), 3-67 (Rizwan), 4-85 (Charles), 5-114 (Usman), 6-120 (Usama), 7-126 (Khushdil), 8-126 (Jordan), 9-127 (Abbas)
BOWLING: Naseem 4-0-25-0 (1w, 2nb), Imad 4-0-23-5, Hunain 1-0-17-0, Faheem 3-0-33-0, Mills 4-0-24-0, Shadab 4-0-32-3 (2w)

ISLAMABAD UNITED:
M. Guptill run out (Iftikhar)50
C. Munro c Iftikhar b Khushdil17
Salman Ali Agha c & b Khushdil10
Shadab Khan b Iftikhar4
Azam Khan c Rizwan b Usama30
Imad Wasim not out19
Haider Ali c Rizwan b Willey5 Faheem Ashraf c&b Iftikhar1
Naseem Shah c Rizwan b Ali17
Hunain Shah not out4

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-3)6
TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs)163
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-26 (Munro), 2-46 (Salman), 3-55 (Shadab), 4-102 (Guptill), 5-125 (Azam), 6-126 (Haider), 7-129 (Faheem), 8-159 (Naseem)
DID NOT BAT: T. Mills
BOWLING: Willey 2-0-15-1, Khushdil 4-1-21-2, Ali 4-0-32-1, Iftikhar 3-0-19-2, Jordan 3-0-28-0, Usama 3-0-36-1 (1w), Abbas 1-0-9-0
TOSS: Multan Sultans

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2024