KARACHI: Islamabad United beat Multan Sultans by 4 wickets in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11th match at the National Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The win helped the three-time champions finish second in the PSL 11 standings and book their meeting with leaders Peshawar Zalmi in the qualifiers at the same venue on Tuesday.
Chasing a tough target of 193 runs, three-time champions India managed to easily chase down the winning runs with 6 wickets and 8 balls to spare.
United, however, had a mixed start to the chase as they lost young opener Samir Minhas (one) in the second over with 10 runs to spare.
After sharing a 31-run partnership for the 2nd wicket with Mohsin Riaz, Devon Conway (18) scored 25 off 17 balls in the first ball of the sixth over, falling to Faisal Akram in 13 balls.
With the scoreboard reading 72/3 in 7.2 overs, Chapman and skipper Shatab Khan began their recovery by putting on a crucial 63-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which culminated in the latter’s dismissal in the 15th over.
Shatab scored 36 runs off 28 balls with the help of 5 fours.
Following his dismissal, United lost two wickets in quick succession, but Chapman stood his ground and guided them to a more rewarding victory with an unbeaten half-century in the last over.
The three-time champions New Zealand international top-scored with an unbeaten 69 off 33 balls with 6 sixes and 4 fours.
For Sultans, Faisal took two wickets but came at a price as he conceded 41 runs in his four overs, while Peter Siddle, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Ismail and Mohammad Imran managed to claim one wicket each.
United captain Shadab Khan batted first as the 2021 champions posted 192/7 in their 20 overs.
Sultans got their innings off to a rousing start as their in-form opening pair of Steve Smith and Sahibzada Farhan put on 60 runs, with Salman Mirza powerplaying the final delivery to give United the much-needed breakthrough.
Farhan followed it up with the next ball, falling to Shadab, which resulted in Sultans slumping to 60/2 in 6.1 overs.
The two Sultans openers scored 30 each and hit four fours and a six, but Farhan conceded 18 balls less than Smith.
Following the back-and-forth, vice-captain Shaun Masood took charge of the Sultans’ batting and put together a one-sided 42-run partnership for the third wicket with Josh Phillip, who scored a cautious 11 off 13 balls before he was dismissed by Imad Wasim in the 12th over.
Masood then shared brief partnerships with captain Ashton Turner (nine) and Arafat Minhas before Salman Irshad eventually cleaned up in the 16th over.
The left-handed batsman top-scored for Sultans with a blistering 44 off 33 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
All-rounder Faheem Ashraf caught Mohammad Imran at short thirdman in the next over to deal another blow to Sultans’ batting campaign.
With the scoreboard reading 136/6 in 16.3 overs, Arafat shifted gears and boosted Sultans’ total by 31 runs on the back foot.
He was supported by No.8 batsman Mohammad Wasim Jr, who scored an unbeaten 26 off nine balls and the duo added 55 runs off the remaining 21 balls.
For United, Chris Green, Mirza, Irshad, Imad, Faheem and captain Shatab took one wicket each.