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Islamabad United made it three out of three for the chasing sides in the 2021 Pakistan Super League.
They registered a thrilling three-wicket win over Multan Sultans in the 3rd match of PSL 2021 to continue the early tournament trend of 'win the toss, win the match'.
All-rounder Lewis Gregory and teenage pacer Mohammad Wasim were the star performers for the winning side, overshadowing the outstanding innings played by the losing captain of the night - Mohammad Rizwan.
Lynn departs early for Multan but Rizwan holds fort
Following the template set by Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars at the National Stadium in Karachi, Islamabad skipper Shadab Khan had no hesitation in opting to give his bowlers first use of the pitch.
Staying true to the script of early wicket/s falling in the four previous innings of the tournament, Chris Lynn departed in the second over itself. He nicked off to the keeper after making room and charging down the track to the right-arm medium pace of Faheem Ashraf.
However, the next 10 overs turned out to be quite fruitful for the batting side as Lahore's in-form skipper Mohammad Rizwan played some delightful strokes to keep his side motoring along.
James Vince (16 runs off 17 balls) gave good support to his skipper before becoming the first of the two wickets picked up by Lewis Gregory.
Vince's departure brought Rilee Rossouw (22 runs off 14 balls) into the middle and the stylish left-hander cut loose from the get go, smashing the leg spin of Shadab Khan for two consecutive sixes.
But the Islamabad skipper had the last laugh as he had Rossouw caught at short third man off the very next ball.
Mohammad Wasim's 3-wicket haul helped restrict Multan to 150/8
At 92/3 after 11 overs, the Multan Sultans looked on course for a score in excess of 160, especially with Rizwan well set at one end.
But the innings never gained momentum as 19-year-old debutant Mohammad Wasim Jr scalped three wickets to lead Islamabad's comeback.
Multan could only score 58 in the last nine overs of the innings as Wasim finished with figures of 3/29 from his four overs, including the important wickets of Rizwan and the evergreen Shahid Afridi off back-to-back deliveries.
At the end of the 20 overs, Multan had been restricted to 150/8 despite Rizwan's 53-ball 71 which was studded with 8 boundaries and 2 sixes.
Islamabad openers get off to a good start before Multan bowlers triggers collapse
In reply, Islamabad openers Alex Hales (29 runs off 20 balls) and Philip Salt (13 runs of 12 balls) got off to decent starts before some poor shot selection and even poorer running between the wickets triggered a big collapse.
From being 30/0 after 3.3 overs, Islamabad found themselves staring down the barrel after losing 6 wickets in quick succession.
Lewis Gregory and Faheem Ashraf's counterattack
With 77 needed to win from 53 balls, Faheem Ashraf decided to counter attack along with Lewis Gregory.
The left-hander smashed 22 runs off just 12 balls, bringing the equation down to 34 off 4 overs before being dismissed by Carlos Brathwaite (2/23 off 4 overs).
Gregory collected 14 runs off the next two overs in the company of Zafar Gohar, before tearing into Sohail Tanvir and smashing him for 19 runs in the penultimate over to all but finish the game.
PSL 2021: Islamabad United v Multan Sultans, Who won Man of the Match yesterday?
Having helped Islamabad restrict Multan to a respectable score in the first innings thanks to his spell of 2/31, Lewis Gregory capped off a memorable indivudual performance with an impressive knock under pressure.
His calm innings of 49* off 31 balls, which included six fours and a six, was decisive in Islamabad United clinching the match by three wickets.
For his match-winning all-round performance, Lewis Gregory was declared the Man of the Match in yesterday's PSL match.
Also see: PSL points table
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