Islamabad United made a promising comeback in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine by beating Karachi Kings in the 15th match at the National Bank Arena.
After beating Lahore Qalandars in the opening match of the tournament, Islamabad lost three games consecutively. With this win, they have now two wins in five matches played.
The credit for the victory goes to the opening pair of Colin Munro and Alex Hales, who completely obliterated Karachi’s bowling attack. The pair added 108 off 69 balls for the first wicket.
Hales was the first man to depart, scoring 35-ball 47. He smacked seven fours and batted with a strike rate of 134.3.
Munro continued his demolition with aggressive batting. The New Zealand batter made a 47-ball 82, powered by four sixes and eight fours.
Karachi tried to pull things back by bowling economical overs but Islamabad steadily chased down the target in the 19th over courtesy of Agha Salman (25) and Shadab Khan (10).
For Karachi, Hasan Ali, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mohammad Nawaz shared a wicket each.
Earlier, Kieron Pollard and Mohammad Irfan Khan staged a recovery for Karachi Kings, propelling them to a formidable total. After being put into bat first, the Kings posted 165/5 on the scoreboard, thanks to an undefeated partnership for the sixth wicket between Pollard and Irfan.
The home team faced an unwelcome setback at the beginning of their innings when Imad Wasim dismissed Tim Seifert (8) in the third over, leaving the team with only 17 runs on the board.
After the initial setback, skipper Shan Masood was joined by Leus du Plooy, and the duo temporarily strengthened the total. They added a brisk 40 runs in just five overs before Salman Ali Agha removed du Plooy in the eighth over. He scored 24 off 15 deliveries, featuring four boundaries.
Kings’ captain Masood tried to steady the innings but fell victim to Hunain Shah in the 10th over after contributing 27 off 30 deliveries, including three boundaries.
Subsequently, the Kings lost two more wickets rapidly, with Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Nawaz departing for six runs each. This downturn brought the hosts down to 89/5 in 13.1 overs.
With half of the batters back in the pavilion, Kieron Pollard partnered with Mohammad Irfan Khan to build a resilient partnership. Their unbeaten stand added 76 runs, pushing Karachi Kings beyond the 160-run mark.
Pollard, the primary aggressor in the sixth-wicket partnership, led the scoring for the Kings with an undefeated 28-ball 48, which included two boundaries and a six. Irfan, in a supportive role, contributed 27 not out of 22 deliveries, with four boundaries.
Karachi Kings will now play Quetta Gladiators on February 29 at the same venue.
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