An all-around show by Islamabad United helped them to register a scintillating 42 runs win over Karachi Kings on Sunday at Karachi National Stadium.
PSL 2022, ISL vs KAR
The win marks Kings’ fifth successive defeat in the tournament while Islamabad United’s glorious victory marks their third consecutive win in the PSL 2022.
After winning the toss & opting to bat first, Islamabad United was successful in amassing 177 runs, thanks to a couple of cameos from the top order. At one point of time, it seemed like the Kings could chase the target but United bowlers ensured that this shouldn’t be the case. A couple of run-out at the top order & regular wickets has helped the United to keep Kings out of the run chase right from the word go. The Player of the match, Shadab Khan returned with rewarding figures of 5 for 15 to ensure that Kings innings get wrapped at 135 handing a 42 runs third consecutive win to Islamabad United.
Islamabad United got off to a cautious start with Alex Hales & Paul Stirling together stitching up a 50 runs stand. Alex Hales 19(19) & Paul Stirling’s 33(23) took Islamabad United’s scoreboard to 64-0. However, when the duo was aiming to register a century stand, Imad Wasim struck in the 7.3 over to send Hales back to the pavilion. Soon after Halkes dismissal, Paul Stirling fell prey to Mohammad Nabi’s bowling as he removed Stirling for 39 runs in the ninth over. Stirling & Hales dismissal left United reeling for runs. But Shadab Khan along with Colin Munro steadied Islamabad’s innings. Shadab Khan 34 (18) & Colin Munro 24 (22) together kept the scoreboard ticking for United. Together the duo added 58 runs for the third wicket to keep Islamabad United’s hope high at 130.
But soon in the 15th over Asif Ali brought an end to Shadab’s knock to put Islamabad United under pressure. Colin Munro was scoring one run one ball to bring up 33 runs from 33 balls before getting dismissed off Chris Jordan’s delivery. Faheem Ashraf & Azam Khan scored 25 runs in the final two overs to bring up 177 runs in 20 overs.
Karachi Kings had a disastrous start to their chase of 177 runs as a mix-up confusion between Babar Azam & Sharjeel resulted in the dismissal of Sharjeel in the second over. Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim, Mubasir Ahmed, and Waqas Maqsood were successful in restricting Karachi Kings from scoring runs in the power-play who could fetch just 21 runs in the first five overs. Skipper Babar Azam was dismissed by Mohammad Wasim for 8 runs in the fourth over to leave Karachi Kings reeling at 23-2. None of the Kings batters could contribute much to the scoreboard with Ian Cockbain 2 (5), Sahibzada Farhan 25 (18) getting dismissed cheaply. Imad Wasim & Lewis Gregory on the crease took the onus & steadied Kings innings by putting up quick 21 runs to take King’s scoreboard to 62-4 after 10 overs.
Islamabad United couldn’t digest their happiness as Shadab Khan struck to remove both Gregory & Wasim in the same over to leave Kings tottering for runs. Shadab Khan continued to create havoc with the ball as he removed Chris Jordan 5 (2) & Mohammad Taha for LBW to reduce Karachi Kings to 83-8 in the 14th over. It was a splendid spell by Shadab Khan who ran through the Karachi Kings batting order to return with amazing figures of 4 for 15.
There were some late fireworks for the fans in the death overs when Mohammad Nabi & Umaid Asif hit accelerated their innings to chip in with some crucial runs. However soon Waqas Maqsood got the better of Umaid Asif by sending the latter back to the pavilion for 10 runs. However, Mohammad Nabi was heading strong at the other end by scoring 44 runs off 22 balls to help Karachi Kings at a decent 132-9 after 19 overs. Usman Shinwari & Mohammad Nabi couldn’t do much with 45 runs needed in the last over. Mohammad Nabi smashed 47 off 28 balls & Usman Shinwari scored 8 off 6 balls to take Karachi King scoreboard to 135-9 in the allotted 20 overs thereby handing a massive 42 runs victory to Islamabad United.
PSL 2022, ISL vs KAR: Brief Scores:
Islamabad United 177 for 6 (Stirling 39, Shadab 34, Jordan 2-36) beat Karachi Kings 135 for 9 (Nabi 47*, Shadab 4-15) by 42 runs