Clinical Sultans overpower Kings in HBL PSL 5

Multan Sultans defeated Karachi Kings by 52 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium, during the ongoing Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL).

While chasing 187-run target, Kings were dismissed for only 134 in 17 overs.

Karachi kept up with the run rate during the first half of their innings but regular wickets hampered their progress towards the total.   

Babar Azam (13) and Sharjeel Khan (16) were dismissed, early in the run chase, by pacer Mohammad Irfan and all-rounder Moeen Ali.

Alex Hales threatened to go big for a brief period but he was eventually dismissed by all-rounder Shahid Afridi. He scored 29 runs off 21 balls with the help of four fours and a maximum.    

Soon after picking Hales’ wicket, Multan struck twice in quick succession by removing Cameron Delport (8) and Imad Wasim (5). Leg-spin duo of Imran Tahir and Afridi were the successful bowlers on this occasion.

ALSO READ: HBL PSL 5: Injured Haris Rauf to be replaced by Salman Irshad

Imran Tahir went on to claim two more wickets and finished with figures of 3/28 in three overs.

Pacer Sohail Tanvir claimed the final two wickets of Kings’ innings to cap-off an impressive victory.

Earlier, Multan Sultans posted 186/6 in their allotted 20 overs after Karachi Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Skipper Shan Masood and all-rounder Ali scored half-centuries, 61 and 65 runs respectively, to help their team post a competitive total on the board.

Ali made Kings pay for dropping him twice during the innings by scoring at a brisk pace. His 42-ball 65 included four fours and four sixes.

Masood, on the other hand, made a cautious start to his innings but accelerated towards the backend. His 42-ball 61 included seven fours and one six.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Zeeshan Ahsraf, who opened the innings with Ali, scored 23 runs off 13 balls.

For Kings, pacers Mohammad Amir and Chris Jordan were the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/27 and 2/29, respectively. Fast-bowler Umaid Asif and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed claimed one wicket each.

Kings picked left-arm spinner Umar Khan for this match, replacing the medium pacer Arshad Iqbal, but he did not bowl even a single ball which was probably due to Multan's leftie-heavy top order, which matches up very well with left-arm spin.