Multan Sultans prove mightier than Karachi Kings

KARACHI: Skipper Mohammad Rizwan and leggie Imran Tahir did a fine job to enable holders Multan Sultans to 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.

Tim David (12*) 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 by Rizwan.

Chasing a seemingly tricky target, 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.

Earlier, Sharjeel Khan (43) and Joe Clarke (26) showed solid resistance with the willow to enable Karachi Kings to 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.

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. Before that, he had 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.

Score Board

Multan Sultans won the toss

Karachi Kings Innings

Sharjeel c Masood b Tahir 43

Babar (c) c Willey b Khushdil 23

Clarke† c Rossouw b Dahani 26

Nabi c & b Tahir 10

Lammonby b Tahir 1

Gregory not out 14

Yamin not out 1

Extras: (b 1, lb 2, nb 2, w 1) 6

Total: (20 Ov, RR: 6.20) 124/5

Did not bat: Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Taha, Umaid Asif, Mohammad Ilyas

Fall: 1-66, 9.2 ov 2-71, 10.4 ov 3-103, 16.1 ov 4-105, 16.4 ov 5-110, 17.5 ov

Bowling: David Willey 4-0-29-0 Imran Khan 4-0-32-0 Shahnawaz Dahani 3-0-14-1 Tim David 2-0-19-0 Imran Tahir 4-0-16-3 Khushdil Shah 2-0-8-1 Ihsanullah 1-0-3-0

Multan Sultans Innings (Target: 125 runs)

Masood c Gregory b Ilyas 26

Rizwan (c)† not out 52

Maqsood st †Clarke b Nabi 30

Rossouw c †Clarke b Nabi 2

David not out 12

Extras: (b 2, w 2) 4

Total: (18.2 Ov, RR: 6.87) 126/3

Did not bat: Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Imran Tahir, Imran Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Ihsanullah

Fall: 1-38, 4.6 ov 2-101, 14.1 ov 3-103, 14.5 ov

Bowling: Aamer Yamin 2-0-14-0 Mohammad Imran 3-0-30-0 Mohammad Ilyas 1-0-2-1 Umaid Asif 2-0-10-0 Mohammad Taha 4-0-32-0 Lewis Gregory 3-0-19-0 Mohammad Nabi 3.2-0-17-2

Result: Sultans won by 7 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

Man of the match: Imran Tahir (MS)

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Richard Illingworth