RAWALPINDI: Faheem Ashraf conjured up an innings to remember, showing grit and nerves of steel as his unbeaten 51 snatched an improbable victory for Islamabad United over Multan Sultans in their Pakistan Sup­er League match on Tuesday night.

No team had chased down 18 runs in the final over and the scales seemed to be tipped in the Sultans’ favour but Faheem unleashed two spectacular shots off the first two deliveries; scooping Mohammad Ilyas for four and then guiding an attempted wide yorker for six over third man.

Ilyas could only offer a wry smile before he was hit for four down the ground off the fourth ball of the over before Faheem completed a two-wicket victory with another four off the penultimate delivery, this time clearing the infield.

A third win on the trot moved United level with table-toppers Lahore Qalandars, only behind the defending champions on net run rate, with both teams having secured spots in the playoffs. For the Sultans, a third straight defeat leaves them third on eight points, still needing a victory in their remaining two matches to confirm a spot in the final four.

Boosted by Australian power-hitter Tim David making his first appearance this season, the Sultans had posted 205-5 after being put into bat; David smashing 60 off 27 deliveries and opener Shan Masood making 75. And they will be left wondering how they let this one slip away.

The wheels had seemed to come off United’s chase when they lost their skipper Shadab Khan, cleaned up by Ihsanullah in the 15th over, for a 25-ball 44. It left them needing 67 runs to win in the last five overs and Sultans were firmly on top with the big-hitting Asif Ali and Mubasir Khan departing in the space of seven deliveries.

But Faheem and Mohammad Wasim Jr inspired hope; the latter making a quickfire 16 before Anwar Ali (3-33) got him lbw in the penultimate over. Sultans seemed to be closing in on a victory, only for Faheem to deny them.

Mohammad Rizwan had ensured Sultans got off to a brisk start, smashing three sixes in an 18-ball 33 — two off Faheem on the leg-side and one off Fazalhaq Farooqi with an uppercut. But the Sultans skipper perished soon after the end of the powerplay, Shadab (2-26) getting him caught behind off the first delivery he bowled.

Shan had made a calculated, composed start but upped the ante after Rizwan’s dismissal, charging at Mubasir Khan and getting his fourth and fifth boundaries in the eighth over, the first off a thin edge, and then scooping and slicing Wasim for boundaries in the 10th.

Rilee Rossouw hit a six off Wasim in that same over but his subdued innings of a run-a-ball 15 ended in the following over when he charged at Shadab and Rahmanullah Gurbaz held on to a superb catch running in from long-on.

Shan, however, was flowing and Wasim was pummeled for three boundaries in the 12th over, the first bringing up the half-century for the opener.

David then got on the act, whipping Shadab for a six into the stands and then cutting him away for a boundary on the next ball before fetching a four off Faheem.

It was the 16th over by Rumman Raees, though, where David really freed his arms. Shan’s top-edge had flown for a boundary on the first ball before David smacked four successive sixes to end it; three of them coming on full-tosses as Rumman suffered horribly in finding his line.

Shan flicked Faheem for his 12th boundary to start the next over before being dismissed four balls later, when he holed out into the deep.

David reached his half-century with a four off Wasim in the 18th over and got another four in the same over. United dried up the boundaries in the last two overs; David Miller getting the only four and both he and David fell in the final over. It proved crucial in the chase.

Slower deliveries from Anwar Ali had brought the end of United openers Alex Hales and Gurbaz (25) before Colin Munro (40) and Shadab got stuck in for a 59-run stand, getting runs in quick time to keep their side in the hunt.

In a seesawing game, Usama Mir produced two quick wickets; the leg-spinner first cleaning up Munro, who smashed three sixes and four fours in his 21-ball knock, before inducing a top edge off dangerman Azam Khan that was pouched by wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan.

United had been reduced to 99-4 but Shadab and Faheem hit back, carting Usama for sixes as he returned to bowl the 14th over. Shadab fell soon after but the Sultans found no way past Faheem.

Current Standings (Tabulated under: teams, matches, wins, lost, points, net run-rate)

Lahore 8 6 2 12 +0.938

Islamabad 8 6 2 12 -0.036

Multan 8 4 4 8 +0.473

Peshawar 7 4 3 8 -0.509

Karachi 9 2 7 4 +0.358

Quetta 8 2 6 4 -1.344

SCOREBOARD

Islamabad United v Multan Sultans

MULTAN SULTANS:

Batters & modes of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Shan Masood c Wasim b Faheem 75 50 12 0 150.00

Mohammad Rizwan c Azam b Shadab 33 18 1 3 183.33

Rilee Rossouw c Gurbaz b Shadab 15 15 0 1 100.00

Tim David c Shadab b Wasim 60 27 4 5 222.22

David Miller c Munro b Wasim 11 9 1 0 122.22

Kieron Pollard not out 1 1 0 0 100.00

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-7) 10

TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 205

DID NOT BAT: Anwar Ali, Usama Mir, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ilyas, Ihsanullah

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-57 (Rizwan), 2-99 (Rossouw), 3-179 (Shan), 4-201 (David), 5-205 (Miller)

BOWLING: Farooqi 4-0-32-0, Rumman 3-0-43-0 (1w), Faheem 4-0-38-1 (1w), Shadab 4-1-26-2 (3w), Mubasir 1-0-15-0, Wasim 4-0-48-2 (1w)

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

Batters & modes of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Ilyas b Anwar 25 14 5 0 178.57

Alex Hales b Anwar 1 7 0 0 14.28

Colin Munro b Usama 40 21 4 3 190.47

Shadab Khan b Ihsanullah 44 25 3 3 176.00

Azam Khan c Rizwan b Usama 3 9 0 0 33.33

Faheem Ashraf not out 48 26 4 2 184.61

Asif Ali c Miller b Abbas 8 5 0 1 160.00

Mubasir Khan c Miller b Ihsanullah 5 5 1 0 100.00

Mohammad Wasim lbw b Anwar 16 7 1 1 228.57

Rumman Raees not out 0 1 0 0 0.00

EXTRAS (LB-5, NB-1, W-10) 16

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 19.5 overs) 206

DID NOT BAT: Fazalhaq Farooqi

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17 (Hales), 2-32 (Gurbaz), 3-91 (Munro), 4-99 (Azam), 5-138 (Shadab), 6-148 (Asif), 7-159 (Mubasir), 8-187 (Wasim)

BOWLING: Anwar 4-0-33-3 (1w), Ilyas 3.5-0-51-0 (1w), Ihsanullah 4-0-35-2 (2w, 1nb), Usama 4-0-38-2, Abbas 4-0-44-1 (2w)

RESULT: Islamabad United won by two wickets.

SCOREBOARD

Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars

PESHAWAR ZALMI:

Batters & modes of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Saim Ayub c Billings b Rashid 68 36 8 3 188.88

Babar Azam c Wiese b Haris 50 41 4 2 121.95

Mohammad Haris c Raza b Rashid 9 6 1 0 150.00

Tom Kohler-Cadmore c & b Haris 36 16 2 3 225.00

Rovman Powell c Raza b Shaheen 9 5 0 1 180.00

Haseebullah Khan b Shaheen 12 7 1 1 171.42

Aamer Jamal c Wiese b Zaman 5 3 1 0 166.66

Azmatullah Omarzai c Rashid b Shaheen 0 2 0 0 0.00

Wahab Riaz c Billings b Shaheen 0 1 0 0 0.00

Mujeeb Ur Rahman not out 1 1 0 0 100.00

Arshad Iqbal b Zaman 1 2 0 0 50.00

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, NB-3, W-3) 16

TOTAL (all out, 19.3 overs) 207

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-107 (Saim), 2-125 (Haris), 3-168 (Babar), 4-179 (Powell), 5-183 (Kohler-Cadmore), 6-199 (Haseebullah), 7-203 (Omarzai), 8-203 (Wahab), 9-203 (Aamer)

BOWLING: Shaheen 4-0-31-4, Haris 4-0-35-2, Zaman 2.3-0-30-2 (1w, 2nb), Raza 1-0-21-0 (1nb), Rashid 4-0-41-2, Wiese 4-0-39-0 (2w)

LAHORE QALANDARS:

Batters & modes of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Shawaiz Irfan b Arshad 0 6 0 0 0.00

Fakhar Zaman c Omarzai b Wahab 11 11 2 0 100.00

Abdullah Shafique c Powell b Omarzai 7 12 1 0 58.33

Sam Billings c Haseebullah b Wahab 0 1 0 0 0.00

Hussain Talat c Haseebullah b Arshad 63 37 4 5 170.27

Shaheen Shah Afridi c Haseebullah b Wahab 52 36 3 5 144.44

Sikandar Raza b Omarzai 20 7 2 2 285.71

David Wiese c Powell b Arshad 0 2 0 0 0.00

Rashid Khan run out 2 3 0 0 66.66

Haris Rauf not out 0 0 0 0 -

Zaman Khan c Haseebullah b Aamer 4 3 1 0 133.33

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-7) 13

TOTAL (all out, 19.4 overs) 172

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Shawaiz), 2-19 (Fakhar), 3-19 (Billings), 4-21 (Abdullah), 5-135 (Shaheen), 6-162 (Raza), 7-166 (Hussain), 8-167 (Wiese), 9-168 (Rashid)

BOWLING: Arshad 4-0-27-3 (2w), Omarzai 4-0-40-2 (2w), Mujeeb 4-0-44-0 (1w), Wahab 4-1-17-3, Aamer 3.4-0-38-1 (2w)

RESULT: Peshawar Zalmi won by 35 runs.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023