MULTAN: Fast bowler of Multan Sultan destroyed the batting line of Islamabad United, playing a major role in winning the contest by 52 runs at Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Islamabad United won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Batting first, Multan Sultan scored 190 runs at the loss of four wickets with the fifties by the captain Muhammad Rizwan and David Miller. Opener Shan Masood returned to the pavilion putting the team under pressure when Muhammad Rizwan with Rilee Rossouw supported the team with a 91 runs partnership. Muhammad Rizwan scored 50 runs and Rossouw scored 36 runs.
David Miller and Pollard make another strong partnership of 78 runs, leading the total to 190 runs with 52 runs contribution from Miller, 32 runs from Pollard, and 3 runs from Khushdil Shah.
Tom Curran, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan and Roman Raees got one wicket each.
The Bowlers of Multan Sultans restricted Islamabad United at a total of 138 runs in 17.5 overs.
Rassie van der Dussan was the top scorer with 49 runs and Colin Munro with 31 runs.
Abbas Afridi of Multan Sultan took four wickets while Usama Mir, Ihsanullah and Muhammad Ilyas took two wickets each.
‘Sultans to continue same performance’
Multan Sultan’s spinner Usama Mir said that the team would continue the same performance in next matches leading the team towards the title.
Holding a press conference after the match at Multan Cricket Stadium here on Sunday, Usama Mir said that the team putting united effort and performing well. He said that the players were striving hard to overcome the mistakes under the supervision of the coaches of the team. He said that players were entering the ground with match-to-match planning which resulted into back to back victories.
Usama added that bowlers always tried to give their best for playing a vital role in the victory of the team. He said that the team made a good comeback after the first match and the team was playing every match as a challenge. He said that the batting and bowling were being ensured as per the plan.
He lauded Captain Muhammad Rizwan for taking brave decisions and leading the team to back-to-back victories.
‘Islamabad United to overcome mistakes’
Captain of Islamabad United Shadab Khan said that the team would overcome mistakes in the next matches to bring improvement in performance.
During a media talk after the match at Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Shadab Khan said that a captain has a major role in the victory of the team.
He said that as a captain he never accepts defeat till the last ball of the match. Shadab added that win and defeat are part of the match but working hard to overcome mistakes could change the results.
He said that the team always entered the ground with a positive mind and gave their best. He said that comprehensive planning was made by keeping in view the situation of ground and opposition.
The spinner of the National Cricket team maintained that the pitch of Multan was good as compared to the pitch of Karachi. He lauded the crowd of Multan for making the event successful.
