Karachi Kings 236 for 6 (Vince 101, Khushdil 60, Seifert 32, Akif 3-41) beat Multan Sultans 234 for 3 (Rizwan 105*, Bracewell 44*, Ghulam 36) by four wickets
An action-packed run fest worth 470 runs that goes down to the last few balls. Every T20 tournament can do with a few of those, and PSL 10 got its on the second day itself. Two centuries too. On a woeful day for bowlers, a 142-run partnership between James Vince and Khushdil Shah separated Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans and took Karachi, the hosts, to the third-highest successful chase in PSL history.
Vince, whose purposefulness was evident from the moment he walked out at the fall of David Warner's wicket in Karachi's chase of 235, orchestrated the win with a 43-ball 101, while Khushdil, the perfect foil for Vince, kept his end of the bargain with a 37-ball 60 from No. 6. It was a much-needed shot in the arm for Karachi, who missed the playoffs in the last three seasons.
Earlier, put into bat, Multan put on a show of their own, posting 234 on the back of Mohammad Rizwan's fluent century - 105* in 63 balls. Adam Milne struggled to control his swing early on and bled plenty in the powerplay. Hasan Ali drew an outside edge off Shai Hope early in the piece and bowled with superb control in the powerplay, but his two-over spell at the death went for 35 runs.
Usman Khan stuck to his chaotic methods and eventually got stumped after getting a start. Kamran Ghulam didn't let the momentum drop and scored a brisk 36 in 19 balls before holing out in the 15th over. Multan needed a big finish, and they got it from the bat of the in-form Michael Bracewell, who played the kind of innings that he does so frequently for New Zealand, sparing no bowler with a 17-ball 44 not out.
Karachi should consider themselves fortunate that even after conceding 22 extras, they kept the target where they could overhaul it. It was a largely an erratic bowling display, especially towards the death.
In the chase, the spotlight was on Warner and the stage was set for him to get his team off to a flier. Warner opened his account lashing a boundary off David Willey - who had a forgettable day going for 40 in two overs - but his stay was short and streaky. He was undone by Bracewell, trapped lbw, but it was a decision that would have been overturned with DRS, but Warner didn't opt for it.
Tim Seifert attacked from the other end in his pulsating 16-ball 32 and then nicked one through to the keeper off Akif Javed, who bowled the fastest delivery of the day at 147.6kph and finished with 3 for 41.
Karachi were in a tricky situation at the end of the seventh over, precariously placed at 79 for 4, but that's when the foundation of a match-winning stand was laid as Khushdil joined Vince. Together, they took the game away from Multan.
Vince raced away to a 23-ball fifty in the 11th over while Khushdil warmed up to the task from the other end. The debutant Shahid Aziz was introduced in the 13th over and was visibly nervous; he was handed the ball at a stage when both batters were well set. Karachi were sitting comfortably at 155 for 4, needing 80 more in seven overs.
Chris Jordan nailed his yorkers in the 14th over and pulled things back a bit, and still had two overs left. But for someone with a lot of late-overs bowling experience, he was taken for 21 in the 16th over, and that put the match beyond Multan. Akif lost his control as Vince smashed him for a six and three boundaries in the 17th.
Vince and Khushdil weren't in the middle to hit the winning runs and there was a glimmer of hope that Multan might create some panic, but with only 14 left to score and still some batting to come, Karachi didn't botch the chase.
