Islamabad United won the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine title by defeating Multan Sultans by two wickets at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi on Monday.
Under the leadership of Shadab Khan, Islamabad clinched their third PSL title after triumphing in 2016 and 2018 and became the most successful team in the history of the tournament.
The thrilling contest was decided on the last ball when Haneen Shah came into bat with a run off the last ball. The youngster smartly identified the gap at point and hit the ball for four.
In the Powerplay, Islamabad lost three wickets and the score was 55-3, after which veteran Martin Guptill and explosive batsman Azam Khan put together a crucial 47-run partnership that put them in the driving seat once again.
However, Guptill was run out after a 32-ball 50 due to a small misunderstanding that left Azam at 102-4 in 12.5 overs.
At the bottom of the order, after Azam returned to the pavilion, eliminator heroes Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah scored 19 and 17 respectively.
Earlier in the first innings, Sultans were spared a major blow in the first over as their captain Muhammad Rizwan was dismissed by Islamabad speedster Naseem Shah but the 31-year-old got a new lease of life as the 20-year-old The line was crossed.
However, Sultans did not get much space as Imad Wasim removed the in-form Yasir Khan and David Willey in the second over.
After losing two wickets, Multan decided to play with guts as Rizwan and Usman Khan put on a crucial partnership of 53 runs. The game looked in Sultan’s control but their captain departed after scoring 26 runs in the 10th over with three fours.
Wickets continued to fall after Rizwan’s dismissal but Usman stayed on the pitch and blamed the Islamabad fast bowlers. The UAE international soon completed his half-century, but could not stay at the crease for long after that as Shadab Khan removed him after scoring 57 off 40 balls.
It looked like Sultans would not be able to cross the 130-run mark as they were nine wickets down for 127 with three overs to go but Iftikhar hung on till the end and steered Rizwan’s men to a competitive total.
Iftikhar proved his mettle in the final overs as the 33-year-old ended his brief cameo with a 20-ball 32 with three fours and as many sixes.
For Islamabad, Imad took five wickets and became the first player to take five wickets in a PSL final. Apart from the 35-year-old, captain Shadab took three wickets while names like Naseem Shah and Haneen Shah went wicketless.
