Islamabad United take on Multan Sultan in PSL qualifier

Abu Dhabi - The foreign opening duo of Usman Khawaja and Colin Munro have dazzled for United in the Abu Dhabi-leg

Islamabad United will take on Multan Sultans in the opening qualifier match of the Pakistan Super League starting from Monday at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

United have been in a red-hot form since losing their first Abu Dhabi-leg match to Qalandars in a last-over thriller on June 9. The Shadab Khan-led side have since won five matches on the trot to finish with eight wins in 10 league-stage matches. United had won three out of their first four matches of the Karachi-leg.

Islamabad United captain Shadab said: “We already reached the knock out stage but the boys gave their 100 per cent and it shows the character of the team.

“We are hopeful to achieve good results in the qualifier against Multan Sultan. We will try to take early wickets because Multan have a long tail.

“As a captain I don’t demand too much from players. I only demand effort from my players and I am satisfied with their performance. We need some improvements in batting and bowling departments.”

The foreign opening duo of Usman Khawaja and Colin Munro have dazzled for United in the Abu Dhabi-leg. Usman, the Australian international batsman, posted the only century of the Abu Dhabi-leg, leading his side to victory in a record breaking, high scoring thriller against Zalmi last week.

In five games, the left-hander has tallied 175 runs at 58.33 and a strike-rate of 147.05 with the help of one century. Munro, has amassed 241 runs in five games at 80.33 with an astonishing strike-rate of 174.63. His tally of runs includes two half-centuries.

Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed have provided valuable support in the middle-order with the bat with match winning contributions.

Amongst the bowlers, Hasan Ali leads the pack for United with 12 wickets in eight games at 16.75. Emerging category pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr. has been most impressive in his debut HBL PSL season, collecting 11 wickets in nine matches.

Mohammad Rizwan-led Sultans have emerged from the disappointments of the fifth-position in Karachi to the highs of a second-place finish in Abu Dhabi. Rizwan has led the side from the front with a tally of 470 runs at 52.22 with the help of four half-centuries. Sohaib Maqsood has scored 304 runs in 10 games at 38 with a strike-rate of 154.31.

Sultans’ emerging category fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani has been most impressive with his 20 wickets in nine matches taking him to the top of the wicket-takers list. His wickets have come at an incredible 13.65 average, he has picked-up two player-of-the-match awards.

Today's Matches (UAE Time)

5pm: Islamabad v Multan

10pm: Peshawar v Karachi