Pakistan Super League-5: Multan take on Karachi today

LAHORE: An interesting match is on cards when Multan Sultans will take on Karachi Kings in the 19th encounter of the Pakistan Super League 2020 here at Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

Multan’s march in this season has come as a surprise for the rest of the franchise teams. Multan with one loss out of five matches is happily placed at the top of the points table. It has produced stunning back to back performances at its backyard when the Sultans hosted its rivals at Multan Stadium. Starting their PSL journey, Multan made a quick work of Lahore Qalandars in their opening match.

Though they lost to Islamabad United in their following match. But they bounced back winning their next two matches against Peshawar and Karachi. Their four wins got them 8 points with a net run rate of + 1.415.

The team management of Multan was relieved of their team’s performance. Multan Sultan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood said: “Multan’s performance of so far is very satisfactory and things are going as planned. Half of the event has passed and we are on the top and we would now opt for consistency.”

“The T20 format is anybody’s game and no one if favourite in it.” Karachi Kings, which have three wins out of five games have six points and a net run rate of - 0.196. In their previous encounter on February 28, Kings lost to Multan by 52 wickets and now they would be looking for a revenge

Rilee Rossouw is the top scorer for Multan Sultans with an average of 63. He has the best of 100*. Shan Masood has also caught up well with 174 runs from 5 innings at a healthy strike rate of 135+. Imran Tahir’s performance with the ball had a special impact on the game. He has picked up 8 wickets from 5 innings for the Sultans. Followed by Sohail Tanvir who have bagged 7 wickets from 5 innings with the best of 4/13.

On the other hand, Karachi would be looking towards Babar Azam to once again come up with a big innings as he produced one of his best 78 in the league. He is the highest scorer from Kings producing an average of 45-plus with 187 runs. Alex Hales is next with 159 runs at almost 40.

Their bowling attack is bolstered by Mohammad Amir whose best was 4/25. He has picked up 8 wickets and has formed a good pair with Chris Jordan who also has 7 scalps with an economy rate of 8.80.

Teams (from): Karachi Kings: Imad Wasim (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Umaid Asif, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport (SA), Alex Hales (ENG), Arshad Iqbal, Chris Jordan (ENG), Sharjeel Khan, Ali Khan, Umer Khan, Mitch McClenaghan (NZ), Usama Mir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Chadwick Walton (WI), Aamir Yamin, Awais Zia

Multan Sultans: Shan Masood (c), Moeen Ali (ENG), Shahid Afridi, Fabian Allen (WI, from March 7), Zeeshan Ashraf, Bilawal Bhatti, Ravi Bopara (ENG), Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Wayne Madsen (ENG, until March 7), Rohail Nazir (wk), Rilee Rossouw (SA), Usman Qadir, Ali Shafiq, Khushdil Shah, Imran Tahir (SA), Sohail Tanvir, James Vince (ENG).