Philippe, Turner star in chase to give Multan Sultan first points in PSL 2026

Josh Philippe's 35-ball 55 and Ashton Turner's unbeaten 28-ball 43 powered Multan Sultans to a five-wicket win over Islamabad United in Lahore, as they chased down 172 with eight balls to spare to register their first victory of PSL 2026. Earlier, Momin Qamar's 3 for 24 had helped keep Islamabad to 171/8 after a promising start.

In the chase, Multan recovered from an early setback through a 45-run stand between Philippe and Steven Smith, who made a steady 31 off 23. Philippe set the tone with aggressive strokeplay while Turner took over the chase in the middle overs. The pair added 61 for the fourth wicket to take Multan within touching distance before Arafat Minhas' brisk 25 off 11 sealed the chase. Salman Irshad and Shadab Khan picked up two wickets each but couldn't halt the momentum.

Islamabad had earlier ridden on contributions from Mark Chapman (40 off 21) and Faheem Ashraf (26 off 17) to post a competitive total. A 48-run opening stand laid the platform but Momin's spell, including key strikes of Sameer Minhas, Shadab Khan and Haider Ali in the middle overs triggered a slowdown. Despite late hitting from Faheem, Multan's bowlers held their nerve, setting up a chase their batters completed with relative ease.

Brief scores: Islamabad United 171/8 (Chapman 40; Momin 3-24) lost to Multan Sultans 175/5 in 19s (Philippe 55, Turner 43*) by 5 wickets.