Multan Sultans 196 for 2 (Rizwan 110*, Masood 51, Malik 1-29) beat Karachi Kings 193 for 5 (Vince 75, Imad 46*, Afridi 2-55) by 3 runs

For about 10 overs, Karachi Kings looked like they would cruise to victory, but for the other 30, Multan Sultans comprehensively outplayed them. You do the maths. And yet, the numbers were the greatest irrelevance of all in a contest for the ages.

Just ten minutes ago, and yet, what seems like an age ago, the Kings needed 37 off the final 9 balls, dead and buried by all accounts. Wides, no-balls, lost nerves and Imad himself somehow brought it down to 6 off the final four, plundering 31 off the next 5 balls. Which is, remember, a mathematical impossibility.

It was the perfect time for Rilee Rossouw to come in, but it was Rizwan instead who would shine brightest in the final few overs. The Sultans captain had three fifties in four innings until today, but would top it all off with a stunning century, taking just 18 balls to move from his 50 to his hundred, getting there in style with a couple of sixes and then a scrambled couple as the Kings lost their discipline in the field. He would finish with an unbeaten 110 off 64 by the end, giving Multan's crowd an innings to remember in the final game the city will host this PSL. The final six overs had yielded 85 runs for the Sultans, and at that stage, a haggard Karachi already looked done and dusted.

There they might have stayed until a fateful mix-up between Haider Ali and Vince. In the melee, it was Vince who ended up run-out, and watched from the dugout as his teammates failed to pick up the baton. Shoaib Malik struggled throughout a scratchy innings as Multan successfully applied the squeeze, and appeared on track for a comfortable win in the end, particularly when the equation was down to 37 off 9.

But the drama was only just beginning. Imad Wasim flayed Mohammad Ilyas for a pair of sixes, and with 22 off the final over required, a neck-high full toss that went for six suddenly put the Kings in pole position. Cutting would smash Afridi for the biggest six off the night to leave his side just one hit away.

But that hit proved elusive as Multan, and an electric crowd, had the last laugh in a game anyone involved would never forget.