Rossouw and David help Sultans maintain perfect record

Shadab Khan's fighting 91 off 42 balls went in vain for Islamabad United, as Multan Sultans maintained their perfect start to the season by clinching a high-scoring match by 20 runs in Karachi. Shadab cracked five fours and nine sixes - which tallied to 74 runs out of 91 - to keep his side floating in a massive chase where they kept losing regular wickets.

The Islamabad captain arrived at the crease in the sixth over after Paul Stirling and Alex Hales had provided a quick start in reply to Sultans' score of 217, racing to 22 off his first eight deliveries. Although two wickets from Khushdil Shah in the eighth over threatened to quieten things, Shadab continued striking boundaries virtually every over to keep Islamabad in the game.

With 55 to get off the final four overs, Shadab looked like pulling off a miracle for his team before a quiet 18th over all but sealed the match for Sultans.

Earlier, Tim David and Rilee Rossouw set Sultans up for a huge total by adding 110 for the fourth wicket in less than eight overs. David hammered 71 from only 29 balls on his way to smashing six fours and sixes each, while Rossouw hit an unbeaten 67 off 35 deliveries with four fours and six maximums. On their way, the pair took Sultans to their highest PSL score, and the fourth-highest in the tournament's history. The 14 sixes that they hit were also the joint second-most in an innings in the PSL, and the 144 runs they scored off the last 10 overs were the third-most by any team.

The majority of that damage was done in the final six overs, in which Sultans piled up 107 runs. First David hit three fours off Mohammad Wasim in the 15th, before he and Rossouw combined to pick 21 off Faheem Ashraf in the following over.

With three overs to go, they took 23 off Hasan Ali, 14 off Wasim and again 21 off Hasan, who ended up conceding 52 from four overs. In the end though, the total would prove just enough, as Shadab lacked support in what turned out to be a closer-than-expected finish.