Rain comes to rescue struggling Sultans as match abandoned.

Byline: Mohammad Yaqoob

LAHORE -- Rainy weather spoiled the HBL Pakistan Super League match between leaders Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings on Friday night here at the Gaddafi Stadium.

As Multan Sultans struggled to reach 102 for the loss of six wickets in 16.5 after being asked to bat first, rain started forcing the umpires to stop the match at around 9:20pm, which was later abandoned as the rain showed no signs of stopping leaving the ground wet.

Big-hitting Shahid Afridi (35 not out off 17 balls) and former Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir (10 not out off 18) were at the crease when the inclement weather stopped play.

Both the teams got one point each as a result of the abandonment of this match. While the abandonment did not hurt Sultans much, who still lead the points table in the six-team league with nine points in six matches, the Kings, who were sitting precariously at fourth position before this match, now remain at the same spot with seven points from six games.

The Sultans never got going after losing their opener Zeeshan Ashraf to paceman Mohammad Amir who had the left-hander caught at mid-off by Chris Jordan in the third over with the total at 17. In the same over earlier, opener Moeen Ali had struck a big six to Amir over mid-wicket.

From the sixth over, the Sultans' batting started to crumble as they were restricted to 42-4 and then further slumped to 64-6 in 11.5 overs as pacer Aamer Yamin took two wickets on consecutive balls in the sixth over giving himself the chance to record a hat-trick.

SPECTATORS enjoy the action during the rain-hit match between Multan Sultan and Karachi Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.-APP

First he dismissed Moeen who was caught by Jordan at long-on for a 22-ball 29 adorned with two fours and a six. On next ball, another dangerous man Rilee Rossouw was caught behind by wicket-keeper Chadwick Walton after a review. On the next ball Ravi Bopara (4) dispatched Aamer for a boundary to deny him a hat-trick. However, in the next over skipper Imad Wasim had him caught by Walton.

Skipper Shan Masood (9) alongside Khushdil Shah (8) crossed the 50-run mark in the 10th over. Three runs later however, Shan departed clean bowled by Imad. Spinner Umer Khan in his first over accounted for Khushdil as Jordan held his third catch of the match.

At this stage, Afridi, arrived at the crease and started his typical fireworks rescuing the Sultans from nowhere as they reached 100-run mark in the 17th over with Sohail...