Multan Sultans inflict crushing 9-wicket defeat on Islamabad United
James Vince's incredible batting, including a half-century off 20 balls and five consecutive fours, easily accumulated runs for the Multan Sultans, allowing them to chase their target of 92 in slightly more than six overs and inflict a crushing defeat on two-time former champions Islamabad United in their Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The fixture was reduced to nine overs each because of the rainy weather.
Multan Sultans won the toss and invited the home team to bat first. None of the players from United could put up an impressive performance as Luke Ronchi got out just three overs in, scoring 18 runs before Rilee Rossouw's catch on Junaid Khan's ball sent him back to the pavilion.
Colin Munro hit three consecutive sixes during the next over before he was caught out on Imran Tahir's ball in the fifth over. United lost four more wickets during the next three overs as Colin Ingram got out after scoring only six runs and captain Shadab Khan hit the ball towards the deep end only to be caught by MM Ali.
Asif Ali and Rizwan Hussain both lost their wickets to Junaid Khan's spectacular bowling spell. Amad Butt played it safe during the last over of the innings but was run out on the last ball.
Vince and Zeeshan Ashraf's high-scoring opening partnership for Multan Sultans gathered 68 runs for the team before Ashraf was caught out in the sixth over on Shadab Khan's ball. However, Vince's spectacular 61-run streak helped the Sultans to their fifth win of the tournament.
The Sultans had only lost one wicket at the end of their innings.
Teams:
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), L Ronchi, C Munro, Rizwan Hussain, CA Ingram, Asif Ali, Muhammad Musa, Amad Butt, Akif Javed, DW Steyn, Rumman Raees
Multan Sultans: Shan Masood (c), MM Ali, Zeeshan Ashraf, RR Rossouw, JM Vince, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Ilyas, Imran Tahir, Junaid Khan