Shinwari leads Karachi Kings to 5-wicket win against Multan Sultans in PSL

ABU DHABI (92 News) – Left-arm bowling was at its best as fast bowler Usman Shinwari and spinner Umer Khan shared seven wickets between them to help Karachi Kings rout Multan Sultans by five wickets in PSL match played at the Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Monday. Shinwari grabbed 4-15 and Umer (3-22) as Multan never scored freely and ended their innings on 118-7 in their allotted 20 overs. Karachi overhauled the meagre total after some difficulty in 19.2 overs to raise their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs. Multan never got going as only Hammad Azam (30-ball 29 with two boundaries and Shoaib Malik (run-a-ball 26) offered any hopes, Multan with just four points in nine games are now out of the race for the play-offs following their defeat today. The win lifts Karachi to fourth position in the six-team table topped by Quetta Gladiators. Karachi now have eight points from as many games with four wins and as many defeats. Quetta have six wins in eight games and 12 points. Peshawar are second with ten points in eight matches, having won five and losing three. Islamabad United are third with four wins and as many losses in eight games while Lahore Qalandars are fifth with six points (three wins and four losses). Multan, whose last game is against Lahore in Karachi, are sixth with two wins and seven losses in nine matches. During their chase today, Karachi Kings had lost two early wickets, Colin Munro for 11 and Babar Azam for 12 -- both wickets going to young fast bowler Mohammad Ilyas -- but Colin Ingram  (31) and Livingstone took the score to 82. Ilyas finished with 3-27 off his four overs. Test specialist Mohammad Abbas (4-1-14-2) then gave Karachi a scare with wickets of Ingram and Iftikhar Ahmed in the same over to leave Karachi at 82-4.  It became tight when 24 were needed in the last three overs and seven in the last before Livingstone took the matter in his hands and finished the match with a six off leg-spinner Mohammad Irfan Khan. Karachi skipper Imad Wasim said his team is in a better position after the result today. "We are now in a better position and hope that we qualify for the play-offs," said Imad. "We did well to restrict them and then chased down the target." Multan skipper rued lack of runs. "We never got runs on the board and although bowlers did well but we could never pressurize them because the target was low," said Malik. It was Shinwari who broke the back of Multan's batting. Shinwari, not at his best in the last match, wrecked Multan right from the outset as he bowled Umer Siddiq with the first ball of the second over for five and then had Johnson Charles (seven) with the first of his second over. James Vince (16) and Malik (26 with two boundaries) took the score to 44 when Umer had Vince bowled from an incoming delivery. Malik was also removed by Umer who had him caught at the boundary. Umer also had Dan Christian for five as Multan continued to lose wickets. Earlier, Quetta thumped Peshawar by eight wickets to become the first team to qualify for the play-off stages. Lahore Qalandars meet Peshawar Zalmi while Islamabad United will take on Quetta Gladiators in the last two matches in UAE before the league shifts to Karachi for the final eight games. Brief Scores: Multan Sultans 118-7 (Hammad Azam 29, Shoaib Malik 26; Usmana Shinwari 4-15, Umer Khan 3-22) Karachi Kings 120-5 in 19.2 overs (L. Livingstone 53 not out; Mohammad Ilyas 3-27).