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Islamabad United and the Multan Sultans are set to cross swords in Match 8 of the 2022 Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Tuesday, February 1. The National Stadium in Karachi will host the contest.
United, captained by Shadab Khan, have made a thunderous start to their campaign in the PSL. They began their sojourn with a resounding nine-wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi on Sunday, January 30.
After opting to field, they restricted Zalmi to 168/6. Their bowlers wreaked havoc in the powerplay as the Zalmi were reduced to 35/4 in 6.1 overs. From there on, Sherfane Rutherford's unbeaten 46-ball knock of 70 gave the Zalmi innings some momentum. Shoaib Malik and Ben Cutting got useful scores in the 20s.
Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf were the pick of the United bowlers with two wickets apiece. Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Shadab also accounted for one scalp apiece. Paul Stirling and Alex Hales' 112-run stand for the opening wicket off 9.4 overs laid the platform for the run-chase.
Stirling was the most attacking of the two as he scored a 25-ball 57 at a strike rate of 228. Hales stayed unbeaten on 82 off 54 balls, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz chipped in with an unbeaten 16-ball 27. Islamabad are now placed second in the table with a net run rate of 2.463.
The Multan Sultans, led by Mohammad Rizwan, on the other hand, are placed atop the points table with victories in both their matches. After beating the Karachi Kings by seven wickets, they defeated the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led Lahore Qalandars by five wickets.
After being put in to bat first, the Qalandars racked up a mammoth score of 206/5 on the board. Fakhar Zaman's blistering 35-ball 76 coupled with cameos from the other batters, helped the Qalandars past the 200-run mark.
Thereafter, Rizwan and Shan Masood put on 150 runs for the first wicket in the Sultans' run-chase. With 16 runs needed off the last over, Khushdil Shah laid into Haris Rauf to take his team home with two balls to spare.
Will the Sultans (MUL) beat the United (ISL)?
Islamabad United have won five out of nine games against the Multan Sultans in the history of the PSL. Khan and Co. also emerged victorious in their only meeting with the Sultans in Karachi. Both teams have strong batting units and the chasing team should come up trumps on Tuesday.
Prediction: The team batting second to win the match.
