Karachi: Captain Mohammad Rizwan and leg-spinner Imran Tahir did a fine job as Multan Sultans beat former champions Karachi Kings by seven wickets in the first match of HBL PSL 2022. ,
Rizwan (52) and Sohaib Maqsood (30) batted well as Multan Sultans chased down the target of 125 runs in 18.2 overs for the loss of three wickets. It was Tim David (12*) who smashed Mohammad Nabi for a scintillating six to bring up a welcome win for Multan. Earlier, South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir made his quota of four overs 3-16 to restrict Multan Sultans to 124-5 after Karachi Kings were invited to bat first when Rizwan won a crucial toss. .
Chasing a difficult target on a pitch where the ball was not hitting the bat, Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan looked scintillating. They shared a 30-ball 38-run partnership, held up at extra cover by Lewis Gregory, before being relieved of Mohammed Ilyas's pride. In his innings of 26 runs in 18 balls, Shaan hit two fours and a straight six off left-handed Mohammad Imran.
Sohaib Maqsood then joined Rizwan and both batted sensibly. He added 62 runs in 56 balls for the second wicket to ensure Multan's victory. Mohammad Nabi broke the partnership when he was stumped for 30 by Joe Clarke to Soheb. Sohaib hit two big sixes in his 31-ball innings. In the same over, Nabi got Riley Rossouv (2) caught by Joe Clarke and Multan scored 103-3 runs in the 15th over.
However at that time Rizwan and David did well to complete the win. Rizwan, who scored 50 runs in 45 balls, hit one six and five fours in 47 balls. David hit a six in ten balls. Nabi, who belongs to Afghanistan, scored 2-17 runs in 3.2 overs. Mohammad Ilyas scored 1-2 runs in an over. Earlier, Sharjeel Khan (43) and Joe Clarke (26) showed solid resistance with the willow as Karachi Kings set a target of 125 for Multan.
Sharjeel showed his class and when he was batting on the tricky track it seemed that everything was fine. However, the rest of the Kings batting line-up faced major issues in managing strokes against Multan's bowling unit, who did a great job with the leather. Sharjeel hit three sixes and three fours in his solid 31-ball knock. He hit Singapore off-spinner Tim David for two big sixes in an over before hitting a super six off left-arm David Willey at square leg. Sharjeel added 66 runs from 56 balls for the opening stand along with his captain Babar Azam. It was South African leggie Imran Tahir who provided Multan a much-needed breakthrough when they had Sharjeel, who was placed backward by Shan Masood. The left-hander looking to hit it inside, misses it, takes the top edge of the blade and goes to the empty position but Shan covers a wide area to complete the catch. In the next over, occasional spinner Khushdil Shah dismissed Babar Azam in the deep by David Willey. Babar hit a four in his innings of 23 runs in 29 balls.
Kings completed 100 runs in 15.3 overs. Imran Tahir grabbed two wickets in the 17th over as he caught Mohammad Nabi off his own delivery and cleaned bowled Tom Lamonby (1) to bowl Kings out for 105-4.
Nabi faced 17 balls for his ten runs. Shahnawaz Dahani then removed Joe Clarke, who was placed in the deep by Riley Rossouw. The English batsman hit a boundary in his 24-ball 26. And the Kings posted 110-5 in the 18th over and reached 124 in the next two overs to set a low target for Multan, who had done a stellar job last year to secure a title win. In Abu Dhabi after a super fightback. Lewis Gregory remained unbeaten on 14 off 16 balls with a four while Amir Yameen remained unbeaten on one run. Imran Tahir bowled brilliantly, scoring 3-16 runs in his quota of four overs. Dahani (3 in 1-14) and Khushdil (2 in 1-8) also bowled well.
Tim David was the costliest bowler as he conceded 19 runs in two overs. Rizwan used seven bowlers, including Khyber district's Ehsanullah, who conceded just three runs in an over. A big dew was visible on the ground. Imran Tahir was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant bowling. Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth supervised the match.