LAHORE - Multan Sultans snatched victory by mere three runs against Karachi Kings in what was the last HBL Pakistan Super League 8 match in Multan.
The heroics from the two captains have etched the 11th match of the HBL PSL 8 as one of the epics in the tournament’s history. Multan Sultans captain Muhammad scored a splendid century that set Karachi Kings 197 to win and with the match almost settled in Multan Sultans’ favour, Imad Wasim’s blazing 46 not out off 26 made the Karachi Kings fan and dugout believe till the last ball.
The match had swung like a pendulum but the last two overs had the most thrill and drama. With 40 needed, the pair of Imad and Ben Cutting thrashed M Ilyas for 18. Abbas Afridi bowled a waist high no-ball that was launched over the midwicket boundary for a gigantic six by Imad. After a wide and a single, Cutting smoked a 107-meter long maximum, which was followed by another wide. With six needed off three balls, Cutting holed out to long-off. M Irfan Khan could only muster a single and with five off one, Imad could only get a single with his powerful shot to the long-off.
Karachi Kings openers – James Vince and Matthew Wade – went ballistic from the onset of the run chase and the pair raced their side to 72 in the Powerplay. The introduction of Usama Mir paid dividends for Rizwan right away as the leg-spinner trapped Wade in front. It was a bizzare mix-up between Vince and Haider Ali in the 10th over that ended up in the former’s run out and allowed Multan Sultans to claw back into the game.
Vince made 75 off 34 balls, smashing seven fours and six disdainful sixes. Haider (12 off 17) and Shoaib Malik (13 off 19) failed to deliver, when Karachi Kings needed 49 off 19. Though Ihsanullah remained wicketless, Abbas took 2-55. M Rizwan smashed 110 off 64 balls, hitting 10 fours and four sixes while Shan scored 51 off 33 (six fours and a six) and Rossouw made 29 off 21. Multan Sultans have now won seven of the eight matches they have played in Multan in the PSL history.
SETHI LAUDS PASSION OF MULTAN CROWD FOR PSL
PCB Chairman Najam Sethi congratulated and thanked Multan crowd for their support in the five HBL PSL matches in Multan. Sharing his message in statement, Sethi said: “Multan crowd once again showed what HBL PSL means to them and Pakistan.” He also thanked the local administration for the successful staging of HBL PSL matches in Multan.
Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings thoroughly entertained Multan crowd in the final match played in Multan on Wednesday. Sethi said this match between Multan and Karachi will be remembered for a long time. “Still a lot to be played in HBL PSL when action moves to Lahore and Rawalpindi,” added Sethi.
SCORES IN BRIEF
MULTAN SULTANS 196-2, 20
overs (M Rizwan 110*, Shan
Masood 51, Rilee Rossouw
29) beat KARACHI KINGS
193-5, 20 overs (James Vince
75, Imad Wasim 46*, Matthew
Wade 20; Abbas Afridi
2-55) by 3 runs.