Moeen stars as Sultans thrash Kings by 52 runs

Multan Sultans continued their upward trajectory in the Pakistan Super League as they thrashed another strong contender for this year’s title Karachi Kings by 52 runs at their home ground to the delight of the home crowd Friday.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali and Sultans captain Shan Masood set the tone for their team after putting into bat by Karachi Kings to post a big total of 186-6 and later spinners caught Kings batsmen into a web to register an emphatic victory.

Moeen opened the batting for Sultans along with wicketkeeper batsman Zeeshan Ashraf. Zeeshan got off to a fast start as he hit a six and three fours before being caught by Babar Azam on a delivery of Idtikhar Ahmed in fifth over. He scored 23 balls off 13 deliveries. After his departure, Moeen put the Karachi Kings bowlers to sword and added 71 runs with Shan for the third wicket before eventually being caught by Cameron Delport when he mishit an Umaid Asif’s delivery. Moeen scored 65 runs off 42 deliveries with a strike rate off almost 155 and hit four sixes and as many boundaries in the process.

Sultans captain kept the momentum and hit 61 runs off 42 deliveries with the help of seven fours and a six as Sultans set up a target of 187 for Kings. For Kings, M Amir was the most successful bowler with 2-27 figures while Chris Jordan also took two wickets for 29 runs. Iftikhar was the most expensive as he conceded 42 runs in his three overs and took just one wicket.

Dean Jones’ side never looked in a comfortable position in their chase and their batting never looked threatening. Moeen again shone with the ball as he removed Sharjeel Khan early after the opener hit a six and two fours to unsettle the Sultans bowlers nerves but could only score 16 off nine deliveries. Babar fell to Irfan when he was caught by M Ilyas after scoring only 13 runs off 12 balls. Alex Hales top scored for Kings with 29 off 20 balls and second best was Umaid with 20 runs as Imran Tahir and Shahid Afridi never let Kings batsmen to settle and wickets kept to tumbling in the process.

Tahir took three wickets for 28 runs and Afridi 2 for 18 as spinners took six of Kings wickets. Among pacers Sohail Tanvir continued to show form with figures of 2-20 and while Irfan and Ilyas took one wicket each as Kings were bowled out for 134 in 17 overs.