KARACHI: Karachi Kings unleashed a ferocious spin attack to make a comeback in the Pakistan Super League season 8 as they sealed a dominant 66-run win over table-toppers Multan Sultans on Sunday.
Tayyab Tahir smashed an impressive fifty on his debut to steer Kings to a respectable 168-run target before spinners wreaked havoc on the visitors’ batting line to bundle out Sultans on a paltry 101.
Tabraiz Shamsi and veteran Shoaib Malik shared six wickets between them while skipper Imad Wasim grabbed two wickets to tighten his side’s grip on the game.
Wrist spinner Shamsi, who played his first game of the season, proved what he is capable of when he ran through the Sultans’ middle order, taking the crucial wickets of David Miller, Khishdil Shah and Usama Mir.
42-year-old Malik, on the other hand, had a phenomenal outing with the ball as he unsettled the Sultans’ batting mainstays Rillee Rossouw and Mohammad Rizwan and later dismissed Abbas Afridi to send packing the Sultans.
Earlier Tahir made 65 runs from 46 balls and stitched a valiant 107-run partnership with Matthew Wade to take the Kings to 167/3 in the 20 overs after they were put into bat.
Wade, on the other hand, held the crease firmly with a 47-ball 46 to anchor the innings with Tahir following the early dismissal of danger-man James Vince, who smacked 27 from 12, off Anwar Ali in the 4th over.
Tahir hit eight scintillating boundaries and a maximum during his maiden PSL knock and sailed the Kings to 141 in the 17th over before Ihsanullah plumbed him lbw.
Wade soon followed the suit and fell prey to the right arm quick in his next over while attempting his signature shot but missed the ball completely.
Skipper Imad played a sweet cameo of 14 from 6 balls, squeezing 12 from the last 4 balls of the innings to gain back some momentum which had shifted into Sultans’ favour in the last five overs of the first innings.
Sultans, in reply, showed a promising start with openers Shan Masood and Rizwan raising 41 runs before seamer Akif Javed gave the home side their first breakthrough in the 5th over, dismissing the former on 25.
Multan lost control of the chase after the first dismissal with none of their batters making it into the 30s.
Rizwan top-scored for the side with a scratchy knock of 29 from 25 balls before Malik got rid of him in the 11th over with a superb take by Tahir at the point.
Rizwan’s dismissal triggered a match-defining collapse as the Sultans’ batters seemed hapless against an unstoppable Kings’ bowling attack and the visitors, consequently bundled out for a meagre 101 in the 17th over after minor retaliation from Usama Mir (10) and Anwar Ali (12).
For his sensational show with the ball, South African spinner Shamsi was adjudged the player of the match in his maiden PSL match.
