WATCH: Islamabad United players celebrate with Palestine flag after winning PSL 9
The players walked all around the stadium waving the flag
Islamabad United players celebrated with the Palestine flag after they won the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine by beating Multan Sultans in the final by two wickets at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi, on Monday.
The Islamabad players — Hunain Shah, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim and others — were seen waving the Palestine flag as they walked around the stadium thanking fans for supporting the team.
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The players did the celebration in solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been under Israel oppression since the Hamas attack on October 7 which Israel claimed killed over 1400 people.
Only Pakistani players in the Islamabad team were holding the flag as the international players weren't with them during the celebrations.
Remember, Islamabad, led by Shadab Khan, claimed their third PSL title after emerging victorious in 2016 and 2018 and have become the most successful team in the tournament's history.
The thriller was decided on the last ball when Hunain Shah came into bat with one run required off the final ball. The youngster smartly identified the gap at point and hit the ball for four.
Islamabad lost three wickets in the powerplay and were 55-3 after which experienced batter Martin Guptill and explosive batter Azam Khan built a crucial 47-run partnership that put them in the driving seat once again.
However, Guptill was run out after scoring 50 runs on 32 balls courtesy of a small misunderstanding with Azam leaving his side 102-4 in 12.5 overs.
Down the order, after Azam walked back to the pavilion, Imad Wasim, the hero of the eliminators, and Naseem Shah provided valuable contributions, scoring 19 and 17 runs respectively.
Earlier in the first innings, the Sultans escaped a massive blow in the first over as their skipper Mohammad Rizwan was removed by Islamabad’s speedster Naseem Shah but the 31-year-old got a new life as the 20-year-old had crossed the line.
However, the Sultans didn’t get much room as Imad Wasim removed in-form Yasir Khan and David Willey in the second over.
After losing two wickets, Multan decided to play with composure as Rizwan and Usman Khan formed a crucial 53-run partnership. The game looked in the Sultans’ control but their skipper departed in the 10th over after posting 26 runs with three fours.
The wickets kept falling after Rizwan’s dismissal but Usman stayed on the pitch and continued the charge against Islamabad pacers. The UAE international soon completed his half-century, but couldn’t stay much on the crease after it as Shadab Khan removed him after scoring 57 runs on 40 balls.
It looked like the Sultans would not be able to cross the 130-run mark as they had lost nine wickets for 127 runs with three more overs to go but Iftikhar stayed till the end and steered Rizwan’s men to a competitive total.
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