LAHORE            -          Multan Sultans became the first team to ensure qualification in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 season as they thumped Islamabad United in a rain-reduced nine-over match played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

According to information made available here, the nine-wicket victory further consolidated Multan Sultans’ stay at the top of the points table. They now have 11 points after seven games, where they won fine, lost one and one no-result. They are guaranteed a place in the play-offs, which will feature the top-four teams at the end of the group stage. On the other hand, Islamabad, who have a mere seven points after nine games, have an uphill task ahead to ensure play-off qualification, as they would not only need to win their last match against Karachi Kings on March 14, but might also have to rely on other results for progress to the play-offs’ stage.

Another monumental effort by the ground staff at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium ensured the staging of the game after heavy rain had left the outfield considerably wet before the start of the match, which eventually started after a more than two-hour delay. Multan skipper Shan Masood won the toss and opted to bowl first and restricted Islamabad United to 91-7 in their nine overs.

Opener Colin Munro emerged as top scorer with 25 off 12 balls, all his three sixes were scored of successive balls of a Shahid Afridi over that went for 20 runs. But other than the Afridi over, United struggled to get the Sultans’ bowlers away. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir took two wickets for 13 runs in two probing overs while left-armer Junaid Khan took two for 13 in his two-over spell. Besides Munro, Luke Ronchi with 18 and captain Shadab Khan with 14 were the only batsmen to reach double figures.

Man-of-the-match James Vince produced a dazzling display of power-hitting with an unbeaten 61 off 24 balls (11 fours, one six) to ensure a comfortable win for Sultans with 14 balls to spare. Vince added 68 runs for the first wicket with Zeeshan Ashraf (16) and finished the game off in Moeen Ali’s (14 not out, five balls, three fours) company after Zeeshan was dismissed by Shadab.