LAHORE: In their fourth match of HBL Pakistan Super League 8, hosts Multan Sultans will face Islamabad United at Multan Stadium on Sunday.
With two games out of three already in their bag, Multan will be confident enough to overcome the fighting spirit and toughness Islamabad United are carrying in their ranks for this year’s tournament.
After being bowled out by Lahore Qalandars in the opening match, Sultans have comfortably beaten Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in their next matches and will now be hoping to continue their winning streak against Islamabad. , no matter how much he stood on Multan’s own. With his fans backing him even in the backyard.
In their second match against Gladiators, Sultans showed the best version of the 2021 champions. They bowled out the opposition for just 110 runs, as Ehsanullah took five wickets. They then chased down the total in the 14th over, Riley Russo scoring an unbeaten 78. Similarly, in the second match, they saw off the pace of Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi, one of the strongest sides in the league. Captain Mohammad Rizwan, Shaan Masood and Russo were at their best while Osama Mir and Ehsanullah picked up wickets when the team needed a break the most.
On the other hand, United will also be high on confidence going into today’s game as the two-time champions will be looking for their second straight win, having defeated Karachi Kings by four wickets in their opening match.
They are also second in the league behind Multan Sultans and will surely try their best to dethrone them from the top. Their good batting form can overcome the bowling tricks that Multan have shown so far.
Bowling first in their opening match against Karachi Kings, Islamabad United restricted the opposition to 173 runs. Roman Raees, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Tom Kiran took two wickets each while Faheem Ashraf also took one wicket.
Chasing runs, Shadab Khan’s side lost both openers early, but were helped by match-winning innings from Colin Munro and Azam Khan. Munro scored 58 runs off 28 balls while wicketkeeper batsman Azam scored 44 runs.
If we look at their previous matches, Sultans also have an edge. They have beaten Islamabad United six times compared to Shadab’s five wins. Sultans comfortably won by six wickets in the last meeting in February last year. Thus, considering the current performance of both the teams and their previous records, it would not be wrong to say that Multan has a clear advantage over Islamabad.
Multan Sultans: Mohammad Rizwan (c&wk), David Miller, Josh Little, Shaun Masood, Khushdal Shah, Riley Russo, Aqeel Hussain, Shahnawaz Durman, Tim David, Osama Mir, Samin Gul, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sarwar, Usman Khan, Arafat Minhas. , Ehsanullah, Abbas Afridi, Kieron Pollard, Imad Butt, Wayne Parnell, Izharul Haq Naveed.
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (capt), Paul Sterling, Alex Hales, Soheib Maqsood, Asif Ali, Rasi van der Dusen, Colin Munro, Hasan Nawaz, Moeen Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mubaser Khan, Tom Curran, Muhammad Wasim Jr, Rahman Allah Garbaz (wk), Azam Khan (wk), Fazlul Haq Farooqui, Zafar Gohar, Roman Rais, Zeeshan Zameer, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Taimal Mills, Gus Atkinson.
