Multan Sultans won the toss and chose to bat first on their home ground, with Captain Mohammed Rizwan and Yasir Khan stepping up to the crease. Riley Meredith was handed the new ball by Shadab Khan.Â
Yasir Khan began the innings with a boundary, expertly timing the ball to reach the boundary, but despite this strong start, the over yielded only 6 runs. Imad Wasim bowled from the other end, managing just 3 runs in his over. Jason Holder came in next, and the Sultans started to find their rhythm, gradually increasing their scoring rate. They finished the powerplay at 48/0 on a challenging pitch.
Mohammed Nawaz was introduced right after the powerplay and immediately got the crucial breakthrough by dismissing the aggressive Yasir Khan for 29 runs off 17 balls. This first wicket slowed the scoring as Mohammed Rizwan and Usman Khan settled in, leaving the score at 64/1 after 9 overs. Usman Khan then attacked Shadab Khan’s over, scoring 14 runs and helping the team finish the first 10 overs at 78/2.
Usman Khan maintained a steady flow of runs while Mohammed Rizwan struggled to find boundaries. Together, they built a partnership of 50 runs for the second wicket before Rizwan was dismissed by Shadab Khan, who cut short Rizwan’s ambitious innings.
Usman Khan continued to dominate, reaching his fifty off just 29 balls. He was joined by Michael Bracewell, but Bracewell's innings was short-lived as he was dismissed by Meredith for 9 runs off 5 balls. By the end of the 16th over, the Sultans' score was 130/3.
Wickets began to fall quickly; Iftikhar Ahmed was the next to go, which slowed down Usman Khan, making it challenging for him to find boundaries and leading to more dot balls, creating pressure. This pressure ultimately resulted in the dismissal of the well-settled Usman Khan, who left the field disappointed after scoring 61 runs off 40 balls.
With two new batsmen, Kamran Ghulam and Chris Jordan, at the crease, boundaries remained scarce. In the penultimate over, Meredith bowled exceptionally well, conceding only 7 runs without giving away any boundaries. After the 19th over, Multan Sultans were at 155/5 with 6 balls remaining.
Kamran Ghulam regained his aggressive intent in the final over, scoring 13 runs off Salman Irshad, bringing the final score to 168/5 at the end of the 20 overs. Islamabad United made a fantastic comeback to restrict the Sultans after their top order had two fifty-run partnerships. The pitch was tough, creating a promising situation for the hosts as they prepared to defend the total.
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