Reigning champion Multan Sultans continued their dream run in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as they defeated a depleted Islamabad United by six wickets in their last league game on Sunday.
Multan, which only lost to Lahore Qalandars, created a unique record of winning 9 out of 10 league matches. They bettered Islamabad’s all-time PSL record of eight wins in the league stage to finish top of the table with 18 points.
Mohammad Rizwan-led Sultans are likely to face either Lahore or Peshawar Zalmi in the first qualifier on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Islamabad also got into the playoffs after edging out Quetta Gladiators on net run rate. Both Islamabad and Quetta finished with eight points from four wins.
Earlier, Multan restricted a depleted Islamabad to this season’s lowest total of 105-7 by using eight bowlers. Imran Tahir finished with the best figures of 2 for 8 in his 4-over quota.
In response, Rizwan with 51 not out off 42 balls anchored Multan to 111-4 in 17.2 overs with his sixth half-century this season, despite losing four wickets for just 43 runs.
Islamabad are struggling in the latter half of the tournament after three of their batters — Paul Stirling, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Alex Hales — left because of either national duties or bubble fatigue. Skipper Shadab Khan, who is still the top wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 wickets, has also missed the last three games due to a groin injury.
