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       LAHORE: Multan Sultans’ desperate bid to keep their HBL Pakistan Super League play-off hopes alive ended in a crushing 87-run defeat to Karachi Kings on Thursday at Gaddafi Stadium here — their seventh loss in eight matches.

       Karachi Kings, with their fourth victory in the seven matches, consolidated their fourth position, thanks to James Vince’s unbeaten half century — that powered them to 204-4 — and Mohammad Nabi’s three wickets as they bowled Sultans out for 117 in 16.1 overs.

       Sultans, finalists in the last four PSL seasons and champions in 2021, needed a win to stay in contention. Kings, electing to bat, started explosively as openers, skipper David Warner (30 off 13, four fours and two sixes) and Tim Seifert (22 off 11, three fours and a six), plundered 34-0 in two overs.

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       Warner smashed Michael Bracewell for 24 runs in an over, including three fours and two sixes, forcing the spinner out of the attack. Seifert punished Ubaid Shah with two fours and a six before falling to the pacer.

       Vince opened with a four, but Warner was soon caught by Kamran Ghulam off David Willey. Omair Bin Yousuf followed, caught by Willey off Ubaid, leaving Karachi at 60-3 in 5.3 overs.

       Vince, who had scored a century against Sultans earlier this season, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 65 off 45 balls, including five fours and two sixes. His 78-run fourth-wicket stand off 50 balls with Irfan Khan (40 off 33, two fours and three sixes) steadied Karachi.

       Irfan hammered two sixes off leg-spinner Usama Mir in the 11th over, while Vince struck a six and a four off Ubaid. Irfan fell to Curtis Campher at 138. Khushdil Shah joined Vince, and their unbeaten 66-run fifth-wicket stand off 31 balls propelled Karachi to an unbeatable total.

       Khushdil’s aggressive 33 not out off 13, with two fours and three sixes, included a six and a four off Jordan in the 18th over and a six off Ubaid in the 19th. Vince added a four and a six in the same over, and Khushdil sealed the innings with a six off Jordan’s final ball.

       Multan’s fielding, a persistent issue, saw two dropped catches, though Multan captain Mohammad Rizwan later called it their best fielding effort.

       Chasing 205, Multan’s batting collapsed. Rizwan fell for a duck, caught by wicket-keeper Seifert off pacer Abbas Afridi in the second over. Mir Hamza dismissed Usman Khan, leaving Multan at 20-2 after three overs.

       Yasir Khan’s 26 off 17, with three sixes and a four, provided brief resistance, but he was caught by Khushdil off Aamer Jamal. Kamran Ghulam’s 29 off 25, with two fours and a six, was Multan’s only other contribution.

       Nabi’s 3-14 in four overs dismantled the middle order, removing Curtis Campher (12), Bracewell, and Usama. Khushdil claimed two wickets for 26, dismissing Iftikhar Ahmed and Kamran.

       A run-out of David Willey and Hamza’s dismissal of Ubaid (14) ended Multan’s innings.

       At the post-match press conference, Rizwan lamen-ted his team’s poor fielding as the primary reason for their dismal show.

       “We dropped catches at crucial stages in every match, allowing batters to score 60-plus runs. Even today, when our fielding was the best, we dropped two catches,” he said.

       Scoreboard

       LAHORE QALANDARS:

       Fakhar Zaman b Khurram 0

       Mohammad Naeem c Hasan b Abrar 50

       Abdullah Shafique not out 53

       D. Mitchell c Rossouw b Abrar 3

       EXTRAS (LB-2, W-3) 5

       TOTAL (for three wickets, 11.3 overs) 111

       DID NOT BAT: S. Billings, S. Raza, Asif Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, T. Curran, Haris Rauf, Asif Afridi

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Fakhar), 2-102 (Naeem), 3-111 (Mitchell)

       BOWLING: Khurram 2-0-12-1 (1w), Faheem 1-0-10-0, Zeeshan 2-0-22-0, Abrar 2.3-0-23-2, Wasim 2-0-22-0, Saud 2-0-20-0 (1w)

       QUETTA GLADIATORS: Saud Shakeel, F. Allen, R. Rossouw, K. Mendis, M. Chapman, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Zeeshan, Khurram Shahzad, Abrar Ahmed

       KARACHI KINGS:

       Tim Seifert c Jordan b Ubaid 22

       David Warner c Kamran b Willey 30

       James Vince not out 65

       Omair bin Yousuf c Willey b Ubaid 1

       Irfan Khan c Jordan b Campher 40

       Khushdil Shah not out 33

       EXTRAS (LB-7, W-6) 13

       TOTAL (for four wickets, 20 overs) 204

       DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Nabi, Abbas Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Mir Hamza, Fawad Ali

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-53 (Seifert), 2-57 (Warner), 3-60 (Omair), 4-138 (Irfan)

       BOWLING: Willey 4-0-24-1 (1w), Bracewell 1-0-24-0, Ubaid 4-0-49-2 (1w), Usama 3-0-27-0, Campher 4-0-27-1 (1w), Jordan 4-0-46-0 (3w)

       MULTAN SULTANS:

       Yasir Khan c Khushdil b Aamer 26

       Mohammad Rizwan c Seifert b Abbas 0

       Usman Khan c Vince b Hamza 1

       Kamran Ghulam c Warner b Khushdil 29

       Curtis Campher b Nabi 12

       Iftikhar Ahmed c Aamer b Khushdil 8

       Michael Bracewell b Nabi 2

       David Willey run out (Vince) 0

       Chris Jordan not out 14

       Usama Mir st Seifert b Nabi 1

       Ubaid Shah c Seifert b Hamza 14

       EXTRAS (LB-4, W-6) 10

       TOTAL (all out, 16.1 overs) 117

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3 (Rizwan), 2-20 (Usman), 3-34 (Yasir), 4-59 (Campher), 5-76 (Iftikhar), 6-85 (Bracewell), 7-85 (Willey), 8-88 (Kamran), 9-90 (Usama)

       BOWLING: Hamza 2.1-0-15-2 (1w), Abbas 3-0-31-1 (2w), Fawad 1-0-13-0 (1w), Aamer 2-0-14-1, Khushdil 4-0-26-2 (2w), Nabi 4-0-14-3

       RESULT: Karachi Kings won by 87 runs.

       PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: James Vince

       CURRENT STANDING

       Tabulated under (Teams, matches, wins, losses, points, net run-rate)

       United 6 5 1 10 1.176

       Qalandars 8 4 3 9 1.110

       Gladiators 7 4 2 9 1.034

       Kings 7 4 3 8 0.445

       Zalmi 6 2 4 4 -0.847

       Sultans 8 1 7 2 -2.597

       Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2025