LAHORE-Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam’s swashbuckling unbeaten knock guided defending champions Karachi Kings defeat Multan Sultans by seven wickets in ninth encounter of the PSL-6 at Karachi’s National Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
According to information made available here, this victory helped Karachi Kings to go on the top of the HBL PSL-6 points table. They have won two out of their three games and have four points each with Islamabad United, Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi, but their improved net run-rate helped them enjoy the top slot in the points table.
The foundation of the 196-run chase for Karachi Kings was laid by the 56-run opening stand between left-handed Sharjeel Khan (27 off 14) and man-of-the-match Babar Azam. After the departure of Sharjeel, Babar was joined by Joe Clarke, who added significant 97 runs for the second-wicket partnership. The right-handed Clarke slammed 54 off 26, hitting three fours and four sixes while it was Clarke’s maiden half century in the PSL-6.
Karachi Kings were helped past the target by an unbroken 36-run partnership between Babar (90 not out, 60 balls, 13 fours, one six) and Mohammad Nabi (13 not out, eight balls, two fours) with seven balls to spare. Shahnawaz Dhani with two wickets for 28 runs in three overs was the pick of the Multan Sultans’ bowlers.
Earlier, after being put into bat by Kings’ captain Imad Wasim, the Sultans got off to a flying start. The opening pair of Chris Lynn and Mohammad Rizwan combined for a 50-run partnership in just 4.1 overs. The very next ball, Lynn fell to Imad after scoring 32 off 14 balls (six fours, one six), his highest so far in PSL-6. Rizwan was joined by James Vince with scoreboard reading at 53 for one. Both batsmen continued to dominate the Kings bowling attack as they contributed 70 runs for the second-wicket before Rizwan became right-arm fast Arshad Iqbal’s first victim of the day. Rizwan scored 43 off 32 balls. He struck five boundaries.
After the departure of Rizwan, the flow of runs dropped considerably for Sultans, and they ended up scoring 195 for six in 20 overs. Vince top-scored with a 29-ball 45, striking five fours and a six. Sohaib Maqsood contributed an unbeaten 34 off 27, which included two fours and a six. For Kings, Arshad was pick of the bowlers with two for 36 in four overs.
Scorecard
MULTAN SULTANS:
M Rizwan c M Nabi b Arshad Iqbal 43
Chris Lynn c Babar b Imad Wasim 32
J Vince c Ingram b Arshad Iqbal 45
Sohaib Maqsood not out…… 34
Rilee Rossouw b Christian….. 7
Khushdil Shah b Waqas Maqsood 6
Shahid Afridi c M Nabi b M Amir 3
Carlos Brathwaite not out……. 3
EXTRAS: (b4, lb9, nb1, w8)…. 22
TOTAL: (6 wkts, 20 overs)… 195
FOW: 1-53, 2-123, 3-133, 4-148, 5-173, 6-182
BOWLING: Imad Wasim 4-0-22-1, Mohammad Amir 4-1-34-1, Waqas Maqsood 4-0-47-1, Daniel Christian 3-0-28-1, Arshad Iqbal 4-0-36-2, Mohammad Nabi 1-0-15-0.
KARACHI KINGS:
Sharjeel c Rizwan b Shahnawaz 27
Babar Azam not out…………. 90
Joe Clarke c Lynn b Shahnawaz…… 54
C Ingram c Shahnawaz b Sohail Khan 6
Mohammad Nabi not out…… 13
EXTRAS: (lb4, w4)……………. 8
TOTAL: (3 wkts, 18.5 overs). 198
FOW: 1-56, 2-153, 3-162.
BOWLING: Sohail Khan 3.5-0-48-1, Shahnawaz Dhani 3-0-28-2, Carlos Brathwaite 4-0-32-0, Usman Qadir 3-0-26-0, Shahid Afridi 3-0-32-0, Khushdil Shah 2-0-28-0.
TOSS: Karachi Kings
UMPIRES: Rashid Riaz Richard Illingworth
TV UMPIRE: Ahsan Raza
MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama
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