Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by 5 wickets in the 24th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
The toss was won by Shadab Khan who elected to field first.
Matthew Forde, making his PSL debut, got the new ball against KK’s duo, Shan Masood and Tim Seifert. The New Zealander began his attack in the second and third over hitting multiple boundaries to the inexperienced lineup.
Captain Shan’s wicket fell to Faheem Ashraf, as his top edge was caught expertly by Imad Wasim in the third-man region. The powerplay ended with KK at 38-1; Seifert was batting at 26*.
Faheem got his second wicket in the 7th over when he got Seifert’s scalp. Next to go was Shoaib Malik, who fell to Imad’s left-arm spin.
9th over brought the next wicket when Mohammad Nawaz top-edged a Tymal Mills ball to deep square-leg. At the half-overs mark, KK reached 66-4; all eyes were on Kieron Pollard.
A change in fortunes occurred when Shadab was hit for two maximums in the 12th over; Tymal went for three consecutive boundaries in the 13th before picking James Vince for 29. The 15th over ended with KK standing at 110-5; Pollard stood at 33*. Hunain got Pollard’s wicket in the 18th over, he went for 39.
Tymal got his third wicket in the 19th over when he dismissed emerging player, Irfan Khan Niazi, for 16. Kings ended at 150-7, Hunain bowling a fine 20th over which went for a mere 7 runs.
Faheem Ashraf was the most impressive, 4-0-16-2, as Imad gave him good company, 4-0-18-1. Left-arm Englishman, Tymal Mills, recorded figures of 4-0-34-3.
Islamabad sent their trusted pair, Colin Munro and Alex Hales, to open while the new ball was given to last-arm pacer Mir Hamza. United gained momentum in the third over when Hales hit Hamza for a cover-driven six. Munro lost his wicket at the end of the over when he chipped a ball straight to the mid-on fielder.
Hales tried to accelerate in the 5th over, but his wicket fell for 18 as he tried to make room against Hamza. The powerplay ended with IU cruising at 47-2.
Shadab and Agha Salman stabilized the innings which resulted in IU reaching 78-2 in 10 overs. Salman’s innings came to an end when Blessing Muzarabani took his wicket in the 13th over.
Wicket-keeper batter, Azam Khan, fell in the 15th over for 9; Islamabad stood at 115-4 after 15. Shadab lost his wicket on the first ball of the 16th over when he nudged a catch to Tim Seifert.
Haider Ali gave the winning touches by hitting a maximum to Hasan Ali in the penultimate over. Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani bowled an impressive spell, recording figures of 4-0-24-1. Zahid Mahmood recorded 4-0-30-1.
Faheem Ashraf was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his all-round skills.
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