Karachi Kings boot Multan Sultans out of PSL

Sultans with four points from nine matches bow out of the tournament and Kings move to fourth spot with eight points.

An all-round effort helped Karachi Kings thump Multan Sultans by five wickets in the Pakistan Super League match played at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

 A potent mix of pacer Usman Shinwari (4 for 23) and spinner Umer Khan (3 for 22) restricted Sultans to 118 and then Liam Livingstone (53 from 42 balls) and Colin Ingram (31 from 24 balls) combined to chase the target with four balls to spare.
Sultans with four points from nine matches bow out of the tournament and Kings move to fourth spot with eight points.

Kings chose to bowl first and Shinwari, who had replaced Mohammad Amir, made the most of the presented opportunity. The left-arm pacer snared Sultans' opener Umar Siddiq (5) with his first delivery of opening over and then Johnson Charles (7) with first of second over.
After two setbacks for 17 runs, new batsmen Shoaib Malik and James Vince tried to revive the innings but failed as Umer Khan ran riot. The spinner from Rawalpindi first bowled Vince (16) and then in his last over of the spell scalped Shoaib (26) and Daniel Christian (5) to leave Sultans reeling at 81 for loss of five wickets after 13 overs.
It would have been worse but Hammad Azam was dropped on 13 runs by Ingram. Azam added salt to injury by hitting Aaron Summers for two boundaries as Sultans reached 100 runs by 17 overs. But any hopes of a flourish were doused as Shinwari returned to trap Azam (29) leg before and bowl Mohammad Irfan (duck) to wind up Sultans' innings at mere 118 for seven.
Sultans started their defence resolutely as Mohammad Ilyas removed both Kings openers Babar Azam (12) and Colin Munro (11) cheaply. But new batters Livingstone and Ingram steadied the innings. The duo picked on Mohammad Irfan by sweeping and smashing the spinner for boundaries. The foreign hands motored Kings past 80 runs from 13 overs. And just then Mohammad Abbas removed Ingram (31) and Iftikhar Ahmed (duck) to finish with two for 14 from his quota including a maiden over.
Kings lost three wickets on 82 and Sultans got a whiff of hope. The match went down to the wire as Ilyas (3 for 27) pocketed Mohammad Rizwan (10). But with seven needed from last over, Livingstone plonked Irfan for maximum to bring up his 50 and clinch the victory.
Shinwari was adjudged man of the match for his scalp of four wickets.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com