Multan defeats Islamabad through pace for back-to-back wins in PSL

Multan Sultans’ Mohammad Ali celebrates after taking the wicket of Islamabad United’s Colin Munro during the PSL T20 match against Islamabad United in Multan, Pakistan, Feb. 20, 2024. (AP Photo)

• Mohammad Ali grabbed 3-19 as he swung the new ball well and delivered some eye-catching yorkers in the death overs to bowl out Islamabad for 144
• Reeza Hendricks then followed his unbeaten 79 in Multan’s win over Karachi Kings with 58 off 46 balls to lead last year’s finalists to 145-5

MULTAN, Pakistan: Multan Sultans limited the batting power of Islamabad United through pace and notched their second straight win in the Pakistan Super League on Tuesday.
Fast bowler Mohammad Ali grabbed 3-19 as he swung the new ball well and delivered some eye-catching yorkers in the death overs to bowl out Islamabad for 144.
Reeza Hendricks then followed his unbeaten 79 in Multan’s win over Karachi Kings with 58 off 46 balls to lead last year’s finalists to 145-5 for a five-wicket win in the last over.
Islamabad was let down by some sloppy fielding as Imad Wasim dropped first Hendricks and then Mohammad Rizwan, who went on to score 43 off 33 balls and shared a 71-run stand with Hendricks.
Naseem Shah, returning from a shoulder injury, bowled an eventful first over when he clean bowled Dawid Malan for zero as the fast bowler looked to get into rhythm with figures of 2-29 off his four overs.
Islamabad lost the wickets of Alex Hales and Colin Munro cheaply inside the batting powerplay after Rizwan won the toss and elected to field.
Ali shattered the stumps of Munro with a sharp delivery that darted into the lefthander from around the wicket and Hales was caught at deep square leg while attempting a big shot against David Willey.
Salman Ali Agha (52) and Jordan Cox (41) both capitalized on dropped catches by Khushdil Shah and raised a 68-run stand. Leg-spinner Usama Mir (2-29) chipped in with quick wickets of Cox and power-hitter Azam Khan (13) that pushed back Islamabad.
Skipper Shadab Khan, who scored a prolific half-century in Islamabad’s opening win over Lahore Qalandars, added 35 with Agha, but Abbas Afridi (3-33) and Ali struck with regular intervals in the death overs before Islamabad innings folded.
Afridi varied his pace intelligently and had Shadab clean bowled off a length ball and then Khushdil made amends of his two early fielding lapses by having Agha caught in the deep off Afridi’s leg-cutter.
Ali wrapped up the tail by grabbing two wickets in the last over before running out Naseem off the last ball.
Multan joined Quetta Gladiators atop the table with four points from two wins while Islamabad has two points from two games.