Islamabad United defeated Multan Sultans by 2 wickets to lift the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 trophy at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi.
Prior to the match, Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and elected to bat first.
Yasir Khan and Rizwan came out to open the innings, while Naseem Shah was handed the new ball.
Yasir went back early, 6, as left-arm spinner Imad Wasim took his scalp. Four balls later, David Willey was clean bowled by Imad, thus leaving Sultans at 14/2.
Emerging fast bowler, Hunain Shah, bowled the fourth over where he was hit for four boundaries. Sultans started to gain momentum.
The powerplay ended with MS standing at 48/2.
Islamabad bowled constant dot deliveries which resulted in Rizwan going for a maximum in the 10th over; he was caught by Martin Guptill in the deep mid-wicket region.
At the mid-point mark, Sultans stood at 68/3.
Taking his third wicket of the night, Imad Wasim sent Johnson Charles back to the dugout in the 12th over.
In-form batter Usman Khan completed his half-century off 36 balls; MS reached 114/4 at the end of the 15th.
Strategic timeout played a role in Usman’s dismissal; Shadab got his wicket through a well-judged catch from Jordan Cox.
Sent as a pinch-hitter, Usama Mir hit a six before mis-timing a ball from Islamabad’s captain; Sultans stood at 120/6.
Imad completed his 5-fer, 17th over, when he dismissed Khushdil Shah and Chris Jordan on successive deliveries.
Youngster Abbas Afridi threw his wicket while going for a quick single within the circle.
Iftikhar Ahmed lit up the death overs as Multan posted 159/9.
Spin twins Imad, 4-0-23-5, and Shadab, 4-0-32-3, remained a lethal wicket-taking duo. Imad also became the first bowler to take a 5-wicket haul in a PSL Final.
They were assisted by Naseem Shah, 4-0-25-0, and Tymal Mills, 4-0-24-0, economical spells.
Islamabad sent out the New Zealand pair, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, to open, while the new ball was handed to David Willey.
Munro started off with a bang as he hit Willey for three consecutive boundaries; he then fell to Khushdil Shah in the 4th over.
On the last ball of the powerplay, Khushdil got his second wicket as he dismissed Agha Salman through a caught & bowled; IU stood at 46/2.
In-form Shadab couldn’t hit a mighty blow, as he was bowled by Iftikhar in the 9th over. IU made 61/3 by the mid-innings.
Guptill hammered Usama Mir, PSL 9’s top wicket-taker, for two maximum’s in the 11th over to begin the rebuild. He got to his 50, off 30 balls, before getting run out by Iftikhar Ahmed in the 13th over.
IU reached 116/4 by the 15th over; Azam Khan looked set on 30 but his wicket fell in the 16th over due to a timely decision review from Multan.
Islamabad lost their sixth wicket when Haider Ali tried to slash Willey’s delivery through the cover region; IU became 128/6.
Next to go was Faheem Ashraf, whose abysmal individual campaign came to an end by scoring 1 run.
Imad, Naseem and Hunain Shah combined to complete the chase in the last over. Thus, Islamabad United was crowed as the PSL winners for the third time, first team to win 3 titles.
Iftikhar Ahmed, 3-0-19-2, and Khushdil Shah, 4-1-21-2, proved to be reliable all-round options while David Willey, 2-0-15-1, was economical.
Imad was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his 5-fer with the ball, and 19* batting cameo.
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