Islamabad United has won the 9th edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL T20) after beating Multan Sultans in the final. Islamabad United emerged victorious by defeating the former four-time champions, Multan Sultans, in a nail-biting last ball thriller. Hunain Shah, facing Muhammad Ali on the last ball, hit a four to lead his team to a glorious victory. Interestingly, Multan Sultans lost all three previous PSL finals on the last ball.
Batting first, Multan Sultan could only score 159/9, thanks to a 5-wicket haul for Imad Wasim, a first time in any PSL final. Usman Khan (57), Iftikhar Ahmed (32) and Muhammad Rizwan (26) remained top scorers for Multan Sultans. Imad Wasim took 5 wickets while skipper Shadab Khan dismissed 3 batters.
In reply, Islamabad United chased the total on the last ball. Martin Guptill (50), Azam Khan (30) and and Naseem Shah 17 helped the men in red reach the target despite loss of 8 wickets.
Talking to match presenter after the win, Hunain Shah said “I had the belief when I was sitting out that in the dugout that I will keep calm when I go out to bat, plan was to just tap the ball and run to the other end. Imad was telling me to remain easy and just put bat on ball. I don’t have words to describe my feelings. I’m so happy.”
Naseem Shah: I can’t even breathe properly but what a great match we had. This is the beauty of cricket, it was the final and went to the last ball. I need some time to gather my thoughts, can’t really make of what just transpired. I practice a lot for my batting in the nets. Just talked about keeping believe in ourselves when I was batting with Imad.
Azam Khan: I am over the moon, I’m so happy. I got only one match for Quetta in 2019 and I got so much support from Islamabad, really happy about it. Momentum kept shifting but I knew if I stay in the middle, momentum would shift to our side, couldn’t finish the game which is disappointing for me but we are the champions of PSL so quite happy. I’ve really enjoyed playing alongside Shadab, our goal was always towards championship. I don’t know which song to sing right now, I’m feeling confused.
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