Islamabad United clinch PSL 2024 title: Decoding the tournament stats
What's the story
Islamabad United narrowly beat Multan Sultans by two wickets to claim the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) title. Imad Wasim and Naseem Shah helped Islamabad chase down 160 after they were reduced to 129/7. Martin Guptill starred with a match-winning fifty. Imad also claimed a fifer, while Usman Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed played crucial knocks for Multan. Here we decode the tournament stats.
Summary
How did the final game pan out?
Imad (5/23) ran through the Multan batting line-up. Usman Khan (57) and Iftikhar Ahmed (20) played handy knocks as MS managed 159/9 while batting first. IU had a flying start thanks to Guptill's 50. However, the match came down to the wire after IU were reduced to 129/7. Imad (19) and Naseem (17) helped Islamabad cross the line on the final ball.
Title
Third PSL title for Islamabad United
With this win, Islamabad became the first team to clinch three PSL titles. The team also tasted glory in the 2016 and 2018 seasons. Lahore Qalandars (2022 and 2023) are the only other team with multiple PSL titles. Peshawar Zalmi (2017), Quetta Gladiators (2019), Karachi Kings (2020), and Multan Sultans (2021) are the winners of the other editions.
Imad
Imad Wasim named POTM in final
Imad rattled the Multan batting line-up with a historic 5/23 in the summit clash. The left-arm spinner became the first bowler to claim a fifer in the PSL final. He later scored an unbeaten 19 off 17 balls to seal his side's victory. Needless to mention, his all-round heroics earned him the Player-of-the-Match award in the final game.
Shadab
Player of the tournament: Shadab Khan
Imad's teammate and Islamabad skipper Shadab Khan received the Player-of-the-tournament award for a brilliant allround show. The leg-spinner picked up 14 wickets at an economy of 8.54 besides scoring 305 runs at an impressive strike rate of 142.52. The tally includes three fifties. He was brilliant with his leadership as well.
Batters
Babar Azam scored most runs
With 569 runs at an average and strike rate of 56.9 and 142.6, respectively, Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam finished as the highest run-getter. Multan duo of Usman (430 at 107.5) and Mohammad Rizwan (407 at 33.91) were the only other batters to score over 400. For Islamabad, Colin Munro scored the most, 326 runs at 32.6. Agha Salman (310 at 31) followed him.
Bowlers
Usama Mir was the highest wicket-taker
Multan duo of Usama Mir (24 wickets at 15.87) and Mohammad Ali (19 wickets at 18.63) were the top-two highest wicket-takers. Naseem Shah was Islamabad's most successful bowler, claiming 15 wickets at 22.2. Shadab follows him with 14 scalps. Meanwhile, Mir was also named the Bowler of the tournament. He was the only bowler with a six-wicket haul in the tournament, 6/40 vs Qalandars.
Awards
Here are the other award winners
Multan's Usman was named the batter of the tournament for scoring 430 runs (SR: 164.12). Meanwhile, Peshawar's Saim Ayub was named the all-rounder of the season for scoring 345 runs at a strike rate of 157.53 besides scalping eight wickets (ER: 7.45). Islamabad's Azam Khan was named the wicket-keeper of the tournament for scoring 226 runs (SR: 171.21). The tally includes 10 dismissals.
Records
What are the other records scripted?
Usman was the only batter with multiple tons in the tournament (2). Quetta's Jason Roy took the most catches (12). Babar's 111* vs Islamabad was the highest-individual score this season. Ayub smoked the most sixes (21). While Usman (107.5) had the best average, his Multan teammate Iftikhar Ahmed (193.28) had the best strike rate. Imad's economy of 6.60 was the best (Minimum 10 wickets).
Information
A look at the team records
Islamabad's 232/7 vs Multan was the highest-team score and also the highest-successful chase this season (Target: 229 runs). Quetta's 106 vs Multan was the lowest team score. Peshawar's 147/6 against Karachi was the lowest-defended total this season.