Multan Sultans host Islamabad United in the fifth match of PSL 9 at Multan Cricket Stadium. Mohammad Rizwan-led Sultans will try to pounce on the United brigade as they have the support of their local supporters.
South African top-order batter, Reeza Hendricks, scored a masterful 79* as Multan posted 185-2 in the first match of their campaign. He was assisted by English opener, Dawid Malan, who scored 52 at a strike rate of 126.82
In the 2nd innings, Sultans restricted their opponents, Karachi Kings, to 130-9 via the combination of local-international bowlers David Willey, Mohammad Ali, Abbas Afridi and Usama Mir.
Fast bowler, Mohammad Ali, remained the pick of the bowlers with his figures of 4-0-23-3.
Islamabad United defeated reigning champions, Lahore Qalandars, by 8 wickets in the inaugural match of PSL 9. United captain, Shadab Khan, all-round skills resulted in a comfortable win for the capital city.
Shadab’s bowling figures read 4-0-24-1 while his batting performance was even better, 74* (6×4 5×6). Shadab’s partner, Agha Salman, made 64* (7×4 3×6) as the two built a 138-run unbeaten partnership.
You can check out the full PSL schedule here
Multan and Islamabad are deemed to be the two strongest squads in PSL 9. Both will likely reach the Playoff stage of this season.
Head-to-Head Record
| Team | Matches | Wins | Losses |
| Multan Sultans | 13 | 7 | 6 |
| Islamabad United | 6 | 7 |
Pitch Report
Karachi Kings couldn’t chase down a 186-run target against Multan Sultans in the previous match at this arena. Sultans’ sophisticated bowling restricted KK to 130-8.
Going by PSL 8, Multan promises to be a batting deck. MS versus KK went down the wire when KK chased a 190+ total, but teams batting first (in Multan Stadium) won 4 out of 5 matches during PSL 8.
In PSL 8, Multan began their winning streak by defeating Quetta Gladiators in the same stadium. QG were rattled for 110, which MS chased easily with nine wickets in hand.
Expected Playing XIs
Check out the PSL 9 squads here
Multan Sultans:
| Mohammad Rizwan (C, WK) | Dawid Malan | Reeza Hendricks | Iftikhar Ahmed | Khushdil Shah | Yasir Khan |
| David Willey | Usama Mir | Abbas Afridi | Mohammad Ali | Shahnawaz Dahani |
Islamabad United:
| Colin Munro | Alex Hales | Shadab Khan (C) | Agha Salman | Haider Ali | Azam Khan (WK) |
| Imad Wasim | Faheem Ashraf | Naseem Shah | Hunain Shah | Tymal Mills |
Check out the PSL 9 Points Table here
