Chapman 69* seals Qualifier berth for United; Sultans to play Eliminator 1

Islamabad United leapfrogged Multan Sultans with the win to finish second on the table

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi

Published: Apr 26, 2026, 6:34 PM (4 hrs ago)

Islamabad United 193 for 6 (Chapman 69*, Shadab 36, Akram 2-41) beat Multan Sultans 192 for 7 (Masood 44, Arafat 21, Imad 1-23) by four wickets

Islamabad United will stay back in Karachi to play Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier of PSL 2026 after Mark Chapman's whirlwind knock of 69 not out from 33 balls helped them overhauled Multan Sultans' 192 at the National Stadium on a hot Sunday night.

This was the last league match of this edition and the victory helped United leapfrog Sultans on the points table and finish second. The winner of the Qualifier 1 between Zalmi, who topped the table, and United on Tuesday will reach the final, while the loser will have another shot at a berth in the final by playing the winners of the Eliminator, between Sultans and Hyderabad Kingsmen, at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

United - as often is the case - trusted their batting to chase and they gunned down the target with four wickets and eight balls remaining. But, what would please them the most is the fact that Chapman, one of their vital middle-order batters, got time in the middle. He had batted only four times in the eight games before this innings. The left-handeed batter - coming in at No. 5 - smoked six of the eight sixes struck in United's innings and put on a 63-run stand with Shadab Khan, who made 36 off 28, after Devon Conway and Mohsin Riaz fell in the space of 14 balls.

He would have been back a few balls into his innings had Mohammad Wasim held on to an acrobatic effort at square leg. But, Chapman made the most of the reprieve on a day Sultans looked off-colour on the field and allowed boundaries of their fielding lapses. Chapman ensured United crossed the line comfortably after the dismissal of Shadab provided an opening to Sultans and they looked to make further inroads by sending Haider Ali and Faheem Ashraf back.

That United were set a target in the proximity of 200 was because of a rollicking cameo from Wasim in which he plundered 25 runs of the last over bowled by Salman Mirza. He bludgeoned the left-arm fast bowler for back-to-back sixes and a boundary each at the start and towards the end of the over to provide his bowlers ample runs to defend on a pitch that offered copious runs to the batters. Arafat Minhas played a blinder of 31 from 19 from the other end, hitting three sixes and a four in the previous three overs, which set the stage for the 20th over onslaught. The two lower-order batters added 56 runs from the last 21 balls.

Sultans, prior to the 20th over, seemed on course to a below-par score following a middle-order collapse during which they lost four wickets for 32 runs. It pegged back their scoring rate, which had remained a shade below 10 an over, after their openers had provided them yet another solid start. Josh Philippe and Ashton Turner fell in the consecutive overs and soon Shan Masood, who top-scored with 44 off 33, and Mohammad Imran Randhawa were also sent packing in a span of six balls as Sultans slid from 102-2 to 136-6.

Masood had to walk out right after the powerplay was done and held the Sultans' innings together after Steven Smith and Sahibzada Farhan fell in consecutive balls. The left-hander has been impressive against spin this season and he targeted the United's spinners throughout the middle overs as he hit all his three fours and two sixes against them, but had to rein in after the wickets of Philippe and Turner. Sultans might have been saved the trouble of packing and travel to Lahore had either of them stayed with Shan for longer.

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore

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