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Babar vs Rizwan as Kings take on Sultans in HBL PSL 6

The duo are currently the top-two run-scorers in the event

Babar vs Rizwan as Kings take on Sultans in HBL PSL 6 PHOTO COURTESY: PCB

The defending champions Karachi Kings will take on Multan Sultans in the ongoing HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six match in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Sultans, who are placed at fifth position in the points table, will be eager to register a victory and stay in contention for the playoffs. Meanwhile, Karachi Kings, who are currently placed second on the table, have a chance to clinch the top spot if they win today’s encounter.

Two of Pakistan’s finest batsmen, in the recent past, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will also be part of this match and the duo will be eager to lead their side to victory. The Sultans’ skipper, Rizwan, is currently the highest run-scorer in the event with 297 runs in five matches, whereas Kings’ Babar is in second position with 258 runs in same number of matches.   

Multan Sultans captain Mohammad Rizwan: “When I played for Pakistan ‘A’ in Abu Dhabi few years ago, there wasn’t much spin on offer. However, we would like the pitches to provide turn as I believe that we have the strongest spin attack in the competition. We hope that we get turning tracks and our bowlers are able to take advantage of the conditions.”

“There is not much difference in pitches between Karachi and Abu Dhabi. But when I last played in Abu Dhabi two years ago, the pitches there had a little more pace and it was not easy to score against the pacers there. Whereas in Karachi, you get a little more time to hit and matches are generally high-scoring,” he added.

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Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim: “There is not a lot of pressure as far as defending the title is concerned. There can be nothing better for us than to defend our title. It is not in our mind though. Our first target is to make it to the final four. We will plan for each match individually.”

“Karachi Kings’ combination is really good in both batting and bowling departments. The hot weather can affect the players to a significant degree. The dew at night can also create a lot of problems for all teams. Dew would really impact the spinners.”

Squads

Karachi Kings - Imad Wasim (c), Abbas Afridi, Amir Yamin, Arshad Iqbal, Babar Azam, Chadwick Walton, Danish Aziz, Martin Guptill, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Haris, Thisara Perera, Najeebullah Zadran, Noor Ahmed, Qasim Akram, Sharjeel Khan, Waqas Maqsood and Zeeshan Malik

Multan Sultans– Mohammad Rizwan (c), Asif Afridi, Hammad Azam, Imran Tahir, Imran Khan Snr, Johnson Charles, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Umar, Blessing Muzarabani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rilee Rossouw, Shahnawaz Dhani, Shan Masood, Shimron Hetmyer (partially available), Sohaib Maqsood, Sohaibullah, Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir and Muhammad Waseem