Twitter Reactions: Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi take Multan Sultans to maiden win this season
For the United, Luke Ronchi scored a half-century.
The encounter between Islamabad United and Multan Sultans in Dubai turned out to be a closely-fought affair. In the end, it was the Sultans, who managed to win by five wins and registered their maiden victory in this edition’s Pakistan Super League (PSL). The United, led by Mohammad Sami, would be disappointed that they couldn’t carry on after their win against Lahore Qalandars in the opening game.
Ronchi plays a lone hand
After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Multan Sultans restricted the United to 125 for seven. From the United’s perspective, Luke Ronchi did a chunk of the work. The former international cricketer racked up 51 runs from 33 deliveries with one boundary and five over-boundaries. The veteran took his team off to a blistering start and eventually fell prey to leg-spinner Shahid Afridi in the ninth over.
Rizwan Hussain, Cameron Delport, Hussain Talat and Philip Salt got out for single digits. At one point in time, the United were reduced to 76 for six in 11.4 overs. Samit Patel and Faheem Ashraf churned out 20 runs each to ensure that Islamabad post a respectable score after 20 overs. Pacer Ali Shafiq, Afridi and left-arm speedster Junaid Khan got two wickets. Mohammad Irfan picked up the other wicket.
Sultans get over the line
The run-chase didn’t start on a great note as pacer Waqas Maqsood accounted for the wicket of Johnson Charles for a six-ball duck in the second over. Thereafter, Shan Masood and Laurie Evans put their heads down and cobbled together a steady stand of 37 runs from 37 balls. Evans couldn’t time the ball and managed only 15 runs from 25 balls before falling prey to leg-spin bowler Shadab Khan.
Masood succumbed to a run-out after scoring 26 runs with four boundaries. Then skipper Shoaib Malik and Hammad Azam added 32 runs together. Azam perished after an 18-ball 14. Malik didn’t play any rash stroke and remained not out on 31 runs. Afridi and the hulk-like Andre Russell threw the kitchen sink at everything and racked up quickfire knocks of 16 runs each to see the Sultans through.
Here is how Twitter lauded the Sultans
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