PSL 2020: Rain likely to play spoilsport in Islamabad, Multan encounter

Bad weather is once again likely to play its part in today’s game between Islamabad United and Multan Sultans at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The Sultans and United have already met once in this year’s tournament with United winning the game by eight wickets courtesy of Luke Ronchi and Colin Munros’s fifties and Ammad Butt’s four fer.

Multan who sit at the top of the points table with nine points from six games have so far been in a decent form in this year’s edition as compared to their previous outings. Shan Masood and co almost lost the last game against Karachi Kings on Friday, had rain not come to their rescue and handing them a point.

On the other hand, two-time champions Islamabad, led by Shadab Khan have been having their little run-in with rain. Peshawar Zalmi got the better of United winning their encounter by seven runs thanks to the D/L method.

The Islamabad skipper has been leading for the front smashing it around the park with 237 runs in seven games at an average of 47.40. Joining him is Luke Ronchi who is in excellent form having scored 248 runs and Colin Munro who has 223 runs with a top score of 87*.

Among the bowlers, Faheem Ashraf has picked up seven wickets from five matches for United.

The Sultans, on the other hand, have mostly been relying on Rilee Rossouw and skipper Masood. Rossouw has 189 runs, including an unbeaten century, while Masood has scored 183 runs.

In the bowling department, Imran Tahir has been leading the charts with eight wickets. Mohammad Ilyas and Sohail Tanvir have also picked six and seven wickets respectively.

The match between Islamabad United and Multan Sultans will begin at 2pm.

Squads

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (captain), Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali, Luke Ronchi, Hussain Talat, Amad Butt, Musa Khan, Dale Steyn, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Rumman Raees, Rizwan Hussain, Phil Salt, Zafar Gohar, Akif Javed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Saif Badar, Dawid Malan

Multan Sultans: Shan Masood (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irfan, James Vince, Junaid Khan, Moeen Ali, Rilee Rossouw, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ravi Bopara, Sohail Tanvir, Ali Shafiq, Khushdil Shah, Usman Qadir, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Ilyas, Rohail Nazir, Imran Tahir, Bilawal Bhatti, Wayne Madsen