A disciplined bowling effort by Karachi Kings kept Multan Sultans to 141-7 in the first play-off of the Pakistan Super League Saturday.

Playing in front of empty seats at National Stadium Karachi due to pandemic to complete the PSL 2020 edition after a gap of seven months, Sultans were sent into bat by Kings after winning the toss.

The decision of Karachi captain Imad paid off as Kings bowlers displayed an emphatic display on a pitch appeared to be hard and dry and thwarted Multan’s hopes to put big total to fend off Karachi's top order.

Multan players failed to score freely and also throwing away their wickets in the process without adding any significance to their innings.

It was thanks to Ravi Bopara’s 31-ball 40 runs innings that Multan somehow put a reasonable total on the board in their allotted 20 overs.

Bopara hit one six and three fours in his inning before being caught by Iftikhar Ahmed off the bowling of Waqas Maqsood.

A late cameo by Sohail Tanvir helped Multan to finish on 141 as the all-rounder remained unbeaten for his 25 runs off 13 balls with the help of two sixes and one four.

Zeshan Ashraf (21 off 19), Khushdil Shah (17 off 21) and Shahid Afridi (12 off 12) were other batsmen who entered into double figures.

Adam Lyth (9 off 7), Shan Masood (3 off 2) and Rilee Rossouw (5 off 9) totally failed to click in the crucial match of the event. Muhammad Ilyas remained unbeaten on 5 off six balls.

For Karachi, Arshad Iqbal (2-21) and Waqas Maqsood (2-26) were the most successful bowlers. Imad Wasim also took one wicket for 11 runs in two overs he bowled. M Amir (0-27), Iftikhar Ahmed (0-17) and Wayne Parnell (0-35) remained wicketless.

On toss, Karachi’s captain Imad was confident his batsmen had the ability to chase whatever was set and with a low target of 142, Karachi have a better shot at final of the event.

Mohammad Rizwan sat out, as did Umer Khan, with Chadwick Walton keeping his place, while Wayne Parnell, Alex Hales and Shane Rutherford were the other overseas players.

Multan Sultans, who topped the group stages, were harder hit by absences. They included Rilee Rossouw, who started, as did Adam Lyth, Ravi Bopara and Imran Tahir. Aside from the four overseas players, in-form Khushdil Shah was part of the starting eleven, as was the veteran Shahid Afridi.

Multan Sultans: Zeeshan Ashraf (wk), Adam Lyth, Shan Masood (capt), Rilee Rossouw, Ravi Bopara, Khushdil Shah, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Ilyas, Imran Tahir, Mohammad Irfan

Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Alex Hales, Wayne Parnell, Chadwick Walton (wk), Imad Wasim (capt), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir Shane Rutherford, Arshad Iqbal, Waqas Maqsood