Twitter Reactions: Faheem Ashraf's 51* helps Islamabad United register thrilling victory over Multan Sultans
United chased down 46 in the last three overs to script a memorable victory.
The exhilarating action continued in the Pakistan Super League 2023 as Islamabad United and Multan Sultans locked horns in Match 24 of the tournament on Tuesday, March 7 at Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi. The tournament witnessed another thriller as Islamabad United win the game on the penultimat delivery of the innings, courtesy of Faheem Ashraf's unbeaten half-century.
The United captain Shadab Khan won the toss and invited Multan Sultans to bat first.
However, Shan Masood carried on with his innings and got good support from Tim David as they added 79 runs for the third wicket in 38 balls. Masood scored 75 off 50 while David smacked 60 off just 27 balls. Courtesy of their knocks, Sultans posted a humongous total of 205/5 in their innings.
In reply, the United lost opener Alex Hales early as he was dismissed by Anwar Ali. Anwar further got rid of the other opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz who scored 25 off 14 balls. After losing two early wickets, Colin Munro and Shadab Khan bailed their team out of trouble with a 59-run partnership off 30 balls.
The crucial partnership came to an end as Usama Mir cleaned up Munro (40 off 21). The Sultans further got the big wicket of Azam Khan cheaply as he could only manage to score 3 off 9 balls.
Captain Shadab got a reliable partner in Faheem Ashraf as the duo marched forward in the chase keeping up with the required run rate. However, Shadab (44 off 25) had to return to the pavilion as he got his stumps destroyed by Ihsanullah.
Faheem Ashraf scripted an improbable win for Islamabad United
Ashraf carried on his innings with some support from the tail. The United required 46 off the last three overs with Ashraf and Mohammad Wasim Jr at the crease. Ashraf pressed on the accelerator and smacked three boundaries in the 18th over while Wasim Jr also hit a six in the 19th over to bring the equation down to 18 to win from the last over.
It was all down to the well-set Faheem who didn’t disappoint his side and took them home with one ball to spare. He remained unbeaten on 51*(26) and guided the United to a two-wicket win. Anwar Ali shone with the ball for the Sultans as he scalped three wickets while Ihsanullah and Usama Mir picked up two wickets each.
Here's how Twitter reacted:
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