Multan Sultans batsman Usman Khan scored 100 off just 50 balls in the match against Islamabad United on Sunday, March 10 to enter the PSL record books.
He scored his century exactly at a strike rate of 200 to propel the Sultans to a score of 228/4 in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Islamabad United chased down the score in 20 overs to win the match by three wickets. However, Usman’s knock was one of the talking points as he hit 15 fours and three sixes in his knock. This was his second ton in the current PSL season after scoring an unbeaten 106 against Karachi Kings the previous Sunday. The Karachi-born batsman also holds the record for the league’s fastest century by scoring a ton in just 36 balls against Quetta Gladiators in PSL 8.
Islamabad’s chase was led by Colin Munro’s 40-ball 84. Captain Shadab Khan scored 54 off 31 balls. Haider Ali scored 19, while Faheem Ashraf 23 and Imad Wasim 30 off 13 balls in the chase. The cameos of these lower order players were instrumental in the Islamabad team chasing the total. It came down to 7 of 2 needed for the United team and Imad kept a cool head to take his team home and make the playoffs.
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Usman Khan’s third PSL ton goes in vain as Islamabad United Ace chase against Multan Suntans
This was Usman Khan’s third ton in the PSL. He now holds the record for most tons of PSL, with three to his name. The only other batsman with the same number of centuries in the Pakistan Super League is Kamran Akmal. After the aforementioned players in the list are Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Rilee Rossouw, Sharjeel Khan and Jason Roy, all of whom have hit 2 centuries.
Early in the game, Islamabad United won the toss and opted to bowl first. The decision to bowl early on proved expensive. All Multan batsmen started in the game with Yasir Khan (33), Mohammad Rizwan (20), Johnson Charles (42 off 18) and Chris Jordan (15 off 7).
The Sultan of Multan recorded the highest total of this PSL season batting first, which was eclipsed by Islamabad United in the chase. Islamabad’s batsmen took Multan Sultan’s bowlers to the cleaners. Every bowler except David Willey leaked an economy of 10-plus.
The victory takes Islamabad United to 12 points. Multan Sultans, Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi have already qualified for the playoffs. The fight for fourth place is between Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators. Lahore Qalandars are eliminated after their recent defeat against Karachi.
“The way we support the players, we know they are match winners and they showed it. It was a proper Pindi speech. We haven’t been able to finish the games, but the way we finished today is a good sign. Munro couldn’t perform well at first, but we wanted to back him up. We will try to give him milk and turmeric powder to get him fit (joking about Munro),” Islamabad captain Shadab Khan said.
“Last year against the same player we couldn’t finish it. I had to keep my nerve and trust the process. We had the belief. The way Shadab and Munro played was fantastic. The partnership between Faheem and I was the icing on the cake. Credit to Munro and Shadab. It was a typical Pindi wicket. 222 was on par and not above average and that’s what we wanted. He was hitting very well in the nets. To do this at a crucial stage is incredible,” said Imad Wasim after his incredible heroics with the bat to end the game for Islamabad United.
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