Karachi reach PSL final after Super Over thriller

Out-of-favour Pakistan speedster M Amir Saturday took Karachi Kings to final of the Pakistan Super League 2020 when he successfully defended 13 runs in the Super Over.

Multan Sultan’s Ravi Bopara and Rilee Rossouw could only get nine runs in Amir’s over as Kings won the thrilling contest by four runs in the Super Over. Amir conceded only one boundary in the Super Over.

Karachi sent out Sharjeel Khan and Sherfane Rutherford in the Super Over but Sharjeel again failed and was out after scoring one run when he tried to send the delivery of Sohail Tanvir out of the park but was caught decently by Adam Lyth at long off.

Things were looking grim for Kings before Rutherford hit Tanvir for a six and a four on next two balls before he was being caught by Ravi Bopara on the last delivery of the over. Rutherford scored 11 runs as Kings gave a 14 runs target to Multan to win the play-off.

Muhammad Ilyas bowled a classy last over to deny Karachi Kings an outright win to force the match into the Super Over.

Needing 7 runs to win in the last over, M Ilyas removed M Amir on the second ball of the over to make the equation seven needed off four balls.

He conceded only two runs in next three balls before captain Imad Wasim kept his cool to hit a boundary on the last ball of the over ensure his team Karachi Kings remained in the contention for the final of the Pakistan Super League 2020 edition by forcing the match into the Super Over.

Chasing a low target of 142, Karachi Kings were well on track to win the match easily when Babar Azam was at the crease.

However, Sohail Tanvir had other ideas as he took two wickets in the 17th over including the prize scalp of Babar to turn the match into a thriller.

Babar was in sublime form as hit 65 runs off 53 balls hitting two sixes and five boundaries. Karachi were comfortably placed at 117 for 3 in 17th over before the departure of Babar and soon it was 123-7.

However, Imad played a captain’s knock and remained unbeaten on 27 runs off 16 balls hitting two boundaries and a six.

Alex Hales was other main run-getter as he scored 22 off 19 balls including four boundaries before his innings was cut short by a sublime direct throw of Khushdil Shah.

Iftikhar Ahmed scored 13 runs off 12 balls before being victim of Shahid Afridi. Sharjeel Khan scored 4 runs, C Walton 2 while S Rutherford, Wayne Parnell and Amir could contribute one run each. Waqas Maqsood remained unbeaten for one run.

For Multan, Tanvir was the most successful bowler grabbing 3 wickets for 25 runs. Earlier, Ilyas 1-29, Imran Tahir 1-22, and Afridi 1-30 were other wicket-takers.

Earlier, a disciplined bowling effort by Karachi Kings kept Multan Sultans to 141-7. Playing in front of empty seats at National Stadium Karachi due to pandemic to complete the PSL 2020 edition after a gap of seven months, Sultans were sent into bat by Kings after winning the toss.

Multan players failed to score freely and also throwing away their wickets in the process without adding any significance to their innings. It was thanks to Ravi Bopara’s 31-ball 40 runs innings that Multan somehow put a reasonable total on the board in their allotted 20 overs.

Bopara hit one six and three fours in his inning before being caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off the bowling of Waqas Maqsood. A late cameo by Sohail Tanvir helped Multan to finish on 141 as the all-rounder remained unbeaten for his 25 runs off 13 balls with the help of two sixes and one four.

Zeshan Ashraf (21 off 19), Khushdil Shah (17 off 21) and Shahid Afridi (12 off 12) were other batsmen who entered into double figures.

Adam Lyth (9 off 7), Shan Masood (3 off 2) and Rilee Rossouw (5 off 9) totally failed to click in the crucial match of the event. Muhammad Ilyas remained unbeaten on 5 off six balls.

For Karachi, Arshad Iqbal (2-21) and Waqas Maqsood (2-26) were the most successful bowlers. Imad Wasim also took one wicket for 11 runs in two overs he bowled. M Amir (0-27), Iftikhar Ahmed (0-17) and Wayne Parnell (0-35) remained wicketless.

On toss, Karachi’s captain Imad was confident his batsmen had the ability to chase whatever was set and with a low target of 142, Karachi have a better shot at final of the event.

Mohammad Rizwan sat out, as did Umer Khan, with Chadwick Walton keeping his place, while Wayne Parnell, Alex Hales and Shane Rutherford were the other overseas players.

Multan Sultans, who topped the group stages, were harder hit by absences. They included Rilee Rossouw, who started, as did Adam Lyth, Ravi Bopara and Imran Tahir. Aside from the four overseas players, in-form Khushdil Shah was part of the starting eleven, as was the veteran Shahid Afridi.

Multan Sultans: Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), Adam Lyth, Shan Masood (capt), Rilee Rossouw, Ravi Bopara, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Ilyas, Imran Tahir, Mohammad Irfan

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Alex Hales, Wayne Parnell, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (capt), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir Shane Rutherford, Arshad Iqbal, Waqas Maqsood