Islamabad United beat Multan Sultans in a thrilling contest on Sunday to win its third Pakistan Super League title, keeping the Karachi crowd on their feet as the final was won on the last ball of the game.
Pacer Naseem Shah, who played a cameo with all-rounder Imad Wasim, told sports presenter Zainab Abbas that he practised hitting sixes in the nets. He hit six in the 18th over of the game– the same over when they lost a wicket.
He also hit the boundary when the team needed seven off five balls. He got out on the second last ball of the game, but nothing to worry about as his brother Hunain Shah came to the crease and played a nice shot to lead his team to victory.
The chase for United got difficult when Haider Ali and Faheem Ashraf got out. But Imad Wasim made no mistake and kept his form.
United won the title since 2018.
Multan Sultans set a 160-run target for Islamabad United. It was the third consecutive loss for them in the finals. They lost the last two finals against Lahore Qalandars in 2022 and 2023.
All-rounder Imad Wasim, who came back from a match-winning performance in the semi-final, was the star performer for United as he grabbed five wickets, including two in the second over of the game.
Skipper Shadab Khan took three wickets as they managed to restrict Sultans to a low total in the final.
The ultimate game started at 9pm.
Everything went in United’s favour right from the toss when they chose to bowl and Wasim gave them the breakthrough they needed despite having Naseem Shah in the attack.
Usman Khan was the leading run-scorer for Sultans. He made another fifty. All-rounder Iftikhar Ahemd played a cameo of 32 runs after coming to bat in the 16th over of the game.
The Muhammad Rizwan-led Sultans have reached three finals and triumphed once in three games.
United have won each of their two finals and will look to become the first team to win the tournament for the third time.
Sultans was the first team to qualify for the playoffs followed by Peshawar Zalmi. The two teams met in the playoffs where the Rizwan-led team beat Babar Azam’s Zalmi to set sail for the final.
United, on the other hand, first defeated Quetta Gladiators and then overcame Zalmi in the eliminator to secure a spot in the final of the showpiece event.
