Multan Sultans defeated Karachi Kings by 20 runs at the National Stadium, Karachi to extend their winning run in the Pakistan Super League, Season 9.
The toss was won by Mohammad Rizwan who selected to bat first.
Rizwan came out to open with Reeza Hendricks while Mir Hamza got the new ball. MS got off to a fine start by scoring 12 off the first over.
Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani struck in the second over, when he got the important wicket of Reeza. Muzarabani’s second over, innings 4th, went for 11 runs courtesy Usman Khan’s fine strokes.
The powerplay ended with MS at 50/1; Usman’s 26 remained the highlight. At half-point mark, MS stood at 87/1 with Usman, 42, and Rizwan, 31, sailing the ship.
Usman’s half-century, off 32 balls, came up in the 12th over; Rizwan played the second fiddle to him. The UAE batter continued his onslaught which resulted in Multan reaching 138/1 after 15 overs.
Rizwan’s 50 came off a shot to the deep square region off the last ball of the 16th over. His wicket fell when he tried to dance down the track and hit Muzarabani over mid-off, but couldn’t.
Next to go was Iftikhar Ahmed, who was caught at the deep mid-wicket boundary for 4 in the same over.
Usman Khan brought up his 2nd PSL century in the last over, when he smashed a short length ball of Mir Hamza to the mid-wicket boundary. The innings ended with MS posting 189/3. Blessing Muzarabani remained the most economical and wicket-taking bowler, having figures of 4-0-32-2.
KK’s innings started with captain Shan Masood and wicket-keeper Tim Seifert opening. David Willey was handed the new cherry. Seifert was the first one to go, as he got out through a Willey direct-hit in the second over.
After a flurry of boundaries from Shan, James Vince lost his wicket for 7 in the fourth over. KK finished the powerplay at 53/2; Shan progressed with Shoaib Malik at a strike-rate of 140.
KK’s captain fell in the 9th over, when leg-spinner Usama Mir bowled him out for 36. At the 10th over mark, KK stood at 79/3 with Malik set at 31.
Unfortunate for KK, Malik went back for 38, when he mistimed a shot to the long-on fielder in the 12th over. Next to go was Leus du Plooy who fell for 12 off Mir.
KK reached the 15th over mark with the score 119/5; emerging player Irfan Khan stood at 20. Irfan lost his wicket for 23 when he tried to hit Willey for a boundary in the 17th over.
Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Ali tried to power-hit, but weren’t successful on a consistent basis. Hasan’s wicket fell in the last over, as his team walked till 169/7.
Spin duo of Khushdil Shah (3-0-16-1) and Usama Mir (4-0-29-1) impressed the most, while the fast bowlers took wickets on a consistent basis.
Usman Khan was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his fine knock of 106*.
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