Rizwan hits a century as Multan beat Karachi by three runs in a PSL thriller.

MULTAN: Centuries in T20 cricket are seldom surpassed, but Multan Sultans defeated Karachi Kings by three runs in the final Pakistan Super League 8 match in Multan on Wednesday night. The exploits of the two leaders have cemented the 11th match of the PSL 8 as one of the tournament’s epics. The home side’s skipper, Mohammad Rizwan, struck a magnificent century – his first of the PSL and second overall – that set Karachi 197 to win, and with the match practically decided in Multan’s favour, Imad Wasim’s blistering 46 not out off 26 kept the Karachi fans and dugout believing till the last ball. The match had swung like a pendulum, but the last two overs were the most exciting and dramatic. Here’s how it went down. Imad and Ben Cutting crushed Mohammad Ilyas for 18 points with 40 required. Abbas Afridi, who had been victimised by the merciless assault of the Karachi openers, delivered a waist-high no-ball on what should have been the opening ball of the last over, which was launched over the midwicket boundary for a massive six by Imad. Cutting smoked a 107-meter maximum after a wide and a single, which was followed by another wide. Cutting holed out to long-off with six required off three balls. Muhammad Irfan Khan, a young all-rounder, could only produce a single and with five off one, Imad could only muster a single with his thunderous shot to long-off.

Karachi openers James Vince and Matthew Wade were on a tear from the start of the run chase, racing their team to 72 in the Powerplay. The introduction of Usama Mir paid rewards for Rizwan straight immediately as the leg-spinner trapped Wade in front. A bizarre mix-up between Vince and Haider Ali in the 10th over resulted in the former being run out, allowing Multan to claw back into the game. So excellent had Vince been that he had hit 75 of his side’s 105 runs by the 9.5 overs mark, when he was run out, in only 34 balls, hammering seven fours and six contemptuous sixes.

Haider (12 off 17) and Shoaib Malik (13 off 19) were unable to keep up with the scoring pace, and when the latter fell in the 17th over, Karachi required 49 runs off 19 balls. Despite Ihsanullah, the season’s top wicket-taker, did not get a wicket, he bowled excellently for none for 17 from four overs. a set of numbers in the aforementioned scenario. Karachi’s choice to field after winning the toss would have been regretted, with Rizwan and Shan Masood breaking the 50-run mark in the Powerplay in what turned out to be a scintillating 85-run stand from 10.2 overs. The duo was assisted by weak fielding as the opening phase of the Powerplay saw misfields turn into boundaries.

Rizwan’s outstanding strokeplay propelled him to 100 from 50 in only 18 balls, after it had taken him 42 balls to reach the 50-run mark. Rizwan’s dominance was so great that Rilee Rossouw, on whom Multan had depended to assume the role of top-order aggressor, was eclipsed. The wicketkeeper-batter smashed 10 fours and four sixes in his 110-ball innings. After failing to get going in the previous four rounds, Shan struck 51 off 33 (six fours and a six) while Rossouw made 29 off 21. Multan has now won seven of the eight PSL matches they have played in Multan. Their lone defeat this season came in the season opener against Lahore Qalandars. With eight points, they easily lead the standings. Karachi is fourth in the table, with just one victory – against archrivals Lahore – in five games.