The Pakistan Super League continued to deliver more of the same in one aspect. Chasing sides continue to reign supreme, with Karachi Kings put together another masterclass to ease past Multan Sultans by seven wickets. It came about; despite a desperately ordinary bowling performance where Karachi nearly set the world record for the number of sides conceded; due to a chasing masterclass by Babar Azam. Shelving the criticism he’d copped for his go; slow towards the back-end of the game against Islamabad a couple of days ago, he unleashed his full repertoire to ensure the asking rate was always on a leash; his unbeaten 60-ball 90 key to guaranteeing his side were never in trouble throughout the chase.
It promised to be a bit different for the side batting first this time, especially when Chris Lynn joined Mohammad Rizwan at the party for the opening partnership. Karachi was profligate enough with the ball to let Multan cruise past 50, and then soon after, 100; with Rizwan’s side looking set to surpass 200 for much of the innings. But once the top three fell, the lower order couldn’t quite find the same explosiveness with the bat. Sohaib Maqsood’s 27-ball 34 was well short of what was required, while Rilee Rossouw; Khushdil Shah; and Shahid Afridi failed to hit a boundary between them.
Babar and Joe Clarke:
Multan didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory with the ball either, but Babar and Joe Clarke, whose 26-ball 54 was the hammer to Babar’s paintbrush; accumulated 97 for the second wicket partnership to leave their side just over a run-a-ball at the death. It was during this phase that Multan’s stutters were truly highlighted. Multan had managed just two boundaries during the final five overs, and with no pressure on Karachi to do anything extravagant, the last few overs were more of a canter than a high-speed chase.
KinG BabaR Azam –
85 (63) – 135 S.R RPo 8.1Rest Of The Team –
75 (57) – 131 S.R RPo 7.9
BuT Yes Babar Is Selfish 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/vZrdqbYRWk
— M S C 🇵🇸 (@_friendlycheema) June 10, 2021
Babar gets to his fifty, but it’s his second slowest in the PSL #PSL6 | #MSvKK
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 10, 2021
Karachi had Mohammad Amir to thank for that, who put aside one loose over in the power-play to deliver two sensational death overs; hitting his lines almost every delivery and reducing the projected total every delivery he bowled. The innings ended with more of a whimper than a flourish; the momentum Karachi had wrestled back at the death was gone for good for Multan.