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MATCH SUMMARY
Karachi Kings, batting first - 174 runs for the loss of 6 wickets; Joe Clarke 40 (29) Multan Sultans, batting second - 176 runs for the loss of 3 wickets; Mohammad Rizwan 76 (56)
Multan Sultans beat Karachi Kings by 7 wickets.
Player of the Match: Mohammad Rizwan - 76 (56) (8x4)
Multan Sultans ensure a top-two finish.
The scorecard will say that it was an easy win for Multan Sultans but reality was far from it as Karachi Kings took the match deep and almost pulled off a spectacular win.
Chasing 175 to win, Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan got Multan off to a very impressive start in the first power play, with both rotation of strike and runs in boundaries. But the next five overs saw a lot of ones and twos, a few dot balls and only a handful of fours from the duo, resulting in the required run-rate going up more and more. After that, there were some tidy deliveries that saw no boundary scored off them and the pressure was right back on the Multan batting. The pressure brought about the important wicket of Shan Masood.
Then came that big over for Multan as Rizwan managed to score 4 fours off Umaid Asif and change the complexion of the match suddenly. But immediately after that, Chris Jordan removed the opposition captain, which led to another wicket in the next over of Tim David, who himself hit a couple of fours, and again brought the game right back with both sides in contention for the win.
But the over that changed the match's fate was the second last from Chris Jordan, as Khushdil Shah took him for 2 sixes and a four, resulting in 20 runs scored off it in total! Multan were able to complete the victory in the next 3 balls of the last over.
Karachi Kings had to contend with dew as well towards the end of the 2nd innings.
With the ball, Mir Hamza and Mohammad Nabi were excellent and if not for those expensive overs towards the end, Chris Jordan and Umaid Asif too kept Karachi in the hunt for a long time with the ball.
Mohammad Rizwan's big hitting was not quite on display tonight but his overall busy batting was surely on show, as he managed to score at well over a run-a-ball to keep his team in the match right till the end. It turned out to be decisive in the end.
In the 1st innings, Karachi were slow in the first 10 overs, with Sharjeel Khan unable to get quick runs for his team. Joe Clarke looked good as long as he batted. The final few overs saw a flourish from Imad Wasim, with help from Mohammad Nabi. Qasim Akram and Rohail Nazir started off the quick scoring phase after the fall of both Sharjeel and Clarke.
Blessing Muzarabani and Shahnawaz Dahani were pretty good with the ball and the overall bowling effort from Multan was commendable, but the fielding could have been better.
Overall, the pitch played well, with something in it for everyone. The pace of the pitch was slightly on the slower side but otherwise, it was a sporting wicket to play T20 cricket on.
That is all from the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore as far as this particular PSL encounter is concerned, it was an absolute pleasure bringing you the live coverage! Stay tuned for more from the Pakistan Super League as the tournament approaches its business end! For now, allow the pair of Soorya and Bidipto, to take your leave! Keep following Sportskeeda!
POST-MATCH PRESENTATION
Karachi Kings captain, Babar Azam: Last two matches were good for us but perhaps an over cost us the match. As a team, if we perform in all three departments, we will be able to pull oursleves through. The bowling was going well, until the last few overs when we could not stem the flow of runs. With the bat, we could have been a bit more proactive in the first 10 overs.
Player of the Match and Multan Sultans captain, Mohammad Rizwan: To be honest, we did not play that well. Yes we did win, but our bowling was not up to the mark. The credit goes to Rilee Rossouw and Khushdil for the way they won the match for us. Shan and I were okay with the bat but we did leave quite a lot for the middle-order. The bowling effort was decent but the clever changes of pace were missing a bit. We will now give the youngers players a chance to test our bench strength.
Shan Masood: I think until the timeout we were 90/0. It seemed like a decent score and we aimed for 100 at the end of the 13th over. After that though we messed it up and failed to time it. Credit to Khushdil and Rilee - the way they finished it after Rizwan and I got out was incredible. Rizwan's amazing to bat with - I converse a lot with him. I just love playing with him. Today was a testament to how we are as a unit - me and Rizwan messed it up a little bit but the way we fought back was brilliant. That's the aim to finish in the top two - we want to win every game though and hopefully we do well.
Multan Sultans manage to get over the line by 7 wickets with 3 balls to spare!
20.0
19.3 Umaid Asif to Rilee Rossouw, SIX! FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE! ROSSOUW GIVES A NONCHALANT POSE AFTER SEALING AN EMPHATIC THRILLER! Good length delivery angling across the batter outside off, he walks across and swivels on his back foot to heave a mighty one wayyy over mid-wicket. There's the bat drop from Rossouw as he tucks his arms on either side and poses for the cameramen - that's as swagger a finish as they come alright! Multan Sultans win by 7 wickets and have sealed a spot in the top two!
Five from four now!
19.2 Umaid Asif to Rilee Rossouw, slower short of a length delivery, angling across the batter outside off as Rossouw hangs back and clogs it off the top-edge over the vacant mid-on region. It drops just beyond the inner ring and rolls towards long on with the batters charging back for the second.
19.1 Umaid Asif to Khushdil Shah, slower back of a length delivery outside off, Khushdil flat-bats it to extra cover for a solitary run.
19.1 Umaid Asif to Khushdil Shah, WIDE! Full and wide of off, left alone and the umpire has his arms outstretched in exercise. Just slanting across the blue line there!
Video
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Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
