Defending champions Karachi Kings slumped to a 12-run defeat to Multan Sultans in their Pakistan Super League 2021 tie at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.
A cracking innings of unbeaten 85, off 63 deliveries, by Pakistan captain Babar Azam was not enough for Karachi to overhaul a challenging target of 177 for a win on Thursday. The champions finished at 164 for seven off their 20 overs with Chadwick Walton contributing with a cameo of 35 off 23 deliveries.
Earlier, South African Rilee Rossouw (44 off 24 balls) and Khushdil Shah (44 off 32) played their part in piloting Multan to 176 for five off their allotted overs after being sent in to bat.
Brief Scores: Multan Sultans 176/5 off 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 44, Khushdil Shah 44 not out; Thisara Perera 2/12) vs Karachi Kings 164/7 off 20 overs (Babar Azam 85 n.o., Chadwick Walton 35; Imran Khan 3/38, Imran Tahir 2/27). Multan Sultans won by 12 runs.