Both sides were on a streak, Multan Sultans were on a three match losing streak which saw them at the bottom of the table while Islamabad United were on a two match winning streak. Both of these streaks would end after the match.
Islamabad United were asked to bat first after losing the toss and Ronchi did what he usually does best — provide a start. But the lack of a yin to his yang was pretty evident as Islamabad lacked a batsman willing to hold down fort and stabilise the innings while giving Ronchi the confidence to hit out without the fear of a collapse.
But with Islamabad possessing a deep batting line up there was still hope to post a defendable total when Ronchi was the 3rd man out with 45 runs on board. But losing 5 wickets in the space of 37 balls crushed the hopes the side had as Islamabad went from 62-3 to 104-8.
It was Ronchi (32 in 16) , Samit (20 in 27) and Asif (22 in 12) who got into double figures as the rest of them played some rash shots or were out to good balls. But the fact that the side was bundled out for just 121 without even playing their full quota of 20 overs will definitely pinch the side.
The Multan Sultan bowlers performed as a collective and there was no real link for the opposition to attack. Ilyas bowled well at the start, Irfan went for 9 runs in his first over but his next 3 overs saw just 8 runs being conceded, Nauman Ali chipped in with wickets of Sahibzada Farhan and skipper Shadab Khan, Junaid Khan was economical, Shahid Afridi was expensive but he did get two wickets.
But the pick of the Sultan bowlers was Dan Christian, Islamabad were 98/7 when he entered the attack with Asif Ali & Faheem Ashraf at the crease. Christian then picked the remaining 3 wickets and Islamabad added just 23 more runs to be bundled out for their lowest score in this PSL.
If Islamabad had any chance of winning this match, it had to be wickets, they needed wickets up top. But Sultans openers had other plans as they put on 54 runs in their opening partnership, with nearly half the runs knocked out with just one wicket gone. The phase in play where Islamabad conceded just 19 runs in 5 overs was a phase which in bigger chases would put the asking rate out of hand and induce some poor shots from batsman, but with the target so low Multan didn’t mind that phase of Shadab.
Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Islamabad, giving away just 16 runs in his 4 overs and picking the wicket of Johnson Charles, but there were times where he just kept the batsmen quiet by keeping them in the darkness of which way the ball would turn, with the chase being a low one the batsmen were more than happy to play him out than attack him.
Islamabad United after 6 games are 3rd on the table with 6 points, they next play Karachi Kings on 27th February at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.