Multan whacks Karachi in PSL opener

KARACHI: Skipper Mohammad Rizwan and leggie Imran Tahir did a fine job to enable holders Multan Sultans overwhelm former champions Karachi Kings by seven wickets with ten balls to spare in the opening fixture of the HBL PSL 2022 which started here at the National Stadium on Thursday night.

Rizwan (52) and Sohaib Maqsood (30) batted well as Multan Sultans chased the 125-run target in 18.2 overs after losing three wickets in the process. It was Tim David (12*) who hit Mohammad Nabi for a glorious six to bring in a welcome win for Multan. Earlier, South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir took 3-16 in his quota of four overs to help Multan Sultans restrict Karachi Kings to 124-5 after being invited to bat first when Rizwan won a crucial toss.

Chasing a seemingly tricky target on the pitch on which the ball was not coming onto the bat, Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan looked elegant. They shared a breezy 38 off 30 balls for the opening stand before Mohammad Ilyas got rid of Shan, held at extra cover by Lewis Gregory. Shan smacked two fours and one straight six off left-armer Mohammad Imran in his 18-ball 26.

Sohaib Maqsood then joined Rizwan and the duo batted intelligently. They added 62 off 56 balls for the second wicket stand to make Multan’s victory certain. Mohammad Nabi broke the partnership when he had Sohaib, stumped by Joe Clarke, for 30. Sohaib hammered two huge sixes in his 31-ball knock. In the same over Nabi got rid of Rilee Rossouw (2), held by Joe Clarke and Multan were 103-3 in the 15th over.

However at that stage Rizwan and David did well to complete the victory. Rizwan, who brought in his 50 off 45 balls, smashed one six and five fours from 47 balls. David hit one six from ten balls. Nabi, who belongs to Afghanistan, was the pick of the bowlers with 2-17 in 3.2 overs. Mohammad Ilyas got 1-2 in one over he bowled. Earlier, Sharjeel Khan (43) and Joe Clarke (26) showed solid resistance with the willow to enable Karachi Kings set a target of 125 for Multan.

Sharjeel showed his class and when he was batting on the tricky track it seemed that everything was fine. However the rest of the batting line-up of Kings faced major issues in managing strokes against Multan’s bowling unit who did a great job with the leather. Sharjeel smacked three sixes and three fours in his 31-ball solid knock. He hit Singapore’s off-spinner Tim David for two huge sixes in an over and earlier he managed a super six over square-leg off left-armer David Willey. Sharjeel added 66 runs off 56 balls for the opening stand with his skipper Babar Azam. It was South African leggie Imran Tahir who provided a much-needed breakthrough to Multan when he had Sharjeel, held superbly by Shan Masood at backward point position. The left-hander wanted to hit it towards onside, miscued it, it took the upper edge of the blade and went into the vacant position but Shan covered a major area to complete the catch. In the next over, occasional spinner Khushdil Shah got rid of Babar Azam, held in the deep by David Willy. Babar smacked one four in his 29-ball 23.

Kings brought in their 100 runs in 15.3 overs. Imran Tahir in the 17th over got two wickets when he had Mohammad Nabi, held off his own bowling, and clean bowled Tom Lammonby (1) to reduce Kings to 105-4.

Nabi faced 17 balls for his ten. Shahnawaz Dahani then removed Joe Clarke, held in the deep by Rilee Rossouw. The English batsman hit one four in his 24-ball 26. And Kings were 110-5 in the 18th over and reached 124 in the next two overs to set a low target for Multan who last year did a marvellous job to complete a title win in Abu Dhabi following a super fightback. Lewis Gregory remained not out on 16-ball 14 with one four while Aamer Yamin was not out on one.Imran Tahir bowled superbly, picking 3-16 in his quota of four overs. Dahani (1-14 in 3) and Khushdil (1-8 in 2) also bowled well.

Tim David remained the most expensive bowler as he conceded 19 runs in two overs. Rizwan used seven bowlers, also including debutant from Khyber district Ihsanullah who gave away just three runs in one over he bowled. There was a huge dew seen on the ground. Imran Tahir was adjudged as man of the match for his excellent bowling. Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth supervised the match.