Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by seven wickets at the National Bank Stadium on Wednesday night to secure their second win in the tournament. Thanks to a lively half-century performance by Player of the Match Colin Munro, Islamabad achieved a target of 166 and narrowly beat his team home to Karachi in the first match of his leg of HBL PSL 9. I succeeded in breaking it.
Islamabad United won the toss and was selected as first place. Skipper Shan Masood opened the innings for Karachi Kings along with Tim Seifert, who was making his HBL-PSL debut. The latter could only score 8 out of 9, including six just once, before being eliminated by the bowling of Imad Wasim.
After the powerplay, Karachi were 46-1. Reus du Plooy, another debutant in Karachi’s line-up, and Shan formed a partnership for the second wicket of 40 runs and got on the scorecard.
This partnership fell apart when Salman Ali defeated Aga du Ploy 24-15 after crossing four boundaries in eight overs. Hunainshah, who joined the attack in the 10th over, sent Shan’s off-stump into the air in his penultimate over.
The Karachi captain had to return to the pavilion after scoring 27 points off 30 balls, including three boundaries. In the next over, Shoaib Malik (6, 7b) was bowled by Azam and Karachi were 73-4 in 10.1 overs. The problem worsened after Shadab’s Mohammad Nawaz (6, 11b) was caught off the bowling of Naseem Shah, who returned to the attack and bowled in the 14th over.
Kieron Pollard (48 not out, 28b, 2x4s, 1×6) and Muhammad Irfan Khan (27 not out, 22b, 4x4s) combined in the middle and rescued Karachi in the last six overs. He made an unbeaten 76 off 42 deliveries as he completed a six-wicket stand and the team finished with his record of 165-5.
Scoring 62 runs in the last four overs, Irfan hit three consecutive boundaries from Ruman Rays in the 19th over and Hunain suffered maximum runs from Pollard in the final over. On the final throw, Pollard and Irfan scored four runs after Shadab and Alex Hales collided in the infield trying to contain the ball.
Imad, Hunain, Naseem and Salman each used a wicket. Chasing the target of 166 points, Colin Munro and Hales scored the first score of 108 points to decide the match for Islamabad. Both sides faced off against the Karachi bowling from the start, scoring three boundaries in the third over and a total of nine boundaries during pitch restrictions, with the powerplay helping United score 58 without conceding.
Brought to bowl in the eighth over, Tabraiz Shamsi was hit by Munro for three consecutive sixes, reaching his 11th HBL-PSL and 66th T20 career half-century. In the 12th over Hales was caught at midwicket and Hasan gave Ali his 100th HBL PSL wicket.
The right-arm seamer is the second bowler after Wahab Riaz to reach the coveted milestone. He missed the opening match in Islamabad for the first time in half a century, losing 35-47 with 4 hits and 7 hits. After the first wicket fell, Islamabad’s innings slowed down. Moments later, Munro (82, 47b, 8x4s, 4x6s) was caught on the leg edge by Nawaz and the next batsman Imad was caught by Shan off Shamsi for a two-ball duck.
Skipper Shadab (10 not out, 11 seconds) joined Salman (25 not out, 17 seconds, 2×6 seconds) at the crease of 16 overs with 27 overs remaining for victory. Salman reached the target quite easily in the 19th over with seven wickets in the bag, hitting two consecutive sixes to seal the game for Islamabad. Hasan, Nawaz and Shamsi each took one wicket from him.
Result summary: Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by 7 wickets 165-5 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 48 not out, Muhammad Irfan Khan 27 not out, Salman Ali Agha 1-17 , Imad) Wasim 1-20, Naseem Shah 1-29) Islamabad United 169 wins 3, 18.3 overs (Colin Munro 82, Alex Hales 47, Mohammad Nawaz 1-23))
