Power play after Imad’s heroics, Islamabad wins the title in a last-ball thriller

Islamabad United was almost hauled by Imad Wasim to the Pakistan Super League championship in 2024. He raised his hand once more and performed admirably on the big night. Giving his team a thrilling title triumph. Condemning Multan Sultans to their third consecutive PSL final defeat in three years. With just two wickets remaining in the run chase of 160, Islamabad emerged victorious in the thrilling last-ball match.

Before Khushdil Shah claimed a wicket, the opening duo of Colin Munro and Martin Guptill from New Zealand really got the chase off to a strong start. Guptill responded with a pair of boundaries, but Khushdil hit once more in the powerplay’s last over despite giving up two to Agha Salman. In addition to being an outstanding batsman, Iftikhar Ahmed also excelled with the ball and was able to castle Shadab Khan at a critical moment. Islamabad was struggling at 61/3 at the interval.

After that, Guptill faced Usama Mir and went up for eighteen runs in one over. Chris Jordan then let up three fours in the next over. At that time, things were promising for the pursuing side when Guptill also reached fifty. But he left after making a costly error, raising Multan’s hopes once again. They made a huge profit when Usama took Azam Khan’s wicket, setting off a mini-collapse.

With three overs remaining, Mohammad Rizwan chose to partner with Iftikhar rather than give the ball to Jordan. It paid off right away as he hit the opening ball. However, Naseem Shah’s two-for-seven in the same over gave Islamabad’s fading hopes a much-needed lift. As he saw everything fall apart on the other end, Imad challenged Jordan for consecutive boundaries. H in the penultimate over to break the tie once more. Islamabad then emerged victorious in a thrilling last over, despite the fact that Imad was only out for a few boundaries.

Imad made a significant effect in the final with the ball. Even though he was undefeated at 19 in the pursuit. Giving up a four and a six in his opening over, he was bowled out during the powerplay. In addition to those two boundaries, though, he also took two vital wickets in an over to cause Multan early damage. After that, Usman Khan and Rizwan scored five boundaries in seven balls to help their team recover in the powerplay. However, a few tight overs later, Rizwan was bowled out while trying to do a slog sweep.

Usman persisted in his assault, but Imad returned on the opposite end and launched another attack right away. With five overs left in the innings, Multan had hauled themselves to 114/4 and were counting on Usman, the half-centurion, to provide the winning stroke. But Shadab’s removal of Usman put an end to their preparations. After that, Multan lost wickets quickly at one end as Imad finished with a five-fer after adding two more to his total in his last over. They were down to 127/9 with three overs left in that phase, but Iftikhar managed the strike for the most of the next eighteen balls, smashing three sixes to help Multan set a target of 160, a total that nearly helped them finish.