By Sohail Ali
LAHORE,:Karachi Kings suffered their seventh defeat of the HBL Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition and were knocked out of the title race as Islamabad United beat them by one run in the 21st match of the mega event here on Monday night at Gadaffi stadium.
With this loss, Babar Azam led team created a record of getting successive seven defeats and remained pointless in the competition.
Karachi Kings’ top order could not give a good start to the team again in the fate-decider against Islamabad United.
Brilliant last over by Waqas Maqsood helped Islamabad United to score a victory as Kings needed eight runs to strike a win but managed just six runs.
Consecutive poor performances of Karachi batters, bowlers and especially captain Babar Azam, who couldn’t shine with his bat in almost all the matches, he led as Karachi Kings captain and even in the last match today against Islamabad United, the skipper could score merely 13 off 9 balls.
Put into bat first, Rahmanullah Gurban and Alex Hales started the innings for Islamabad but could not provide a perfect start and lost their first wicket on the fifth ball of the very first over. Muhammad Akhlaq joined Alex Hales to contribute with him but he has lost his wicket so early and was dismissed after scoring 2 runs.
After that, Captain Shadab Khan joined the previous batter Hales and produced 43 runs for Islamabad. Alex Hales made 25 runs with 3 sixes and one four while Shadab Khan bashed 34 runs that consisted of 3 fours and one six. Azam Khan played his part by scoring 22 runs.
Coming at number 6th, Faheem Ashraf remained not out and helped United seal a big total scoring 29 runs off just 10 balls. While Asif Ali smashed 3 sixes and 1 four and added another 28 runs on the United’s scorecard. From Karachi, Imad Wasim claimed two wickets for the Kings while Mir Hamza, Chris Jordan, Umaid Asif, and Thompson took a scalp each.
Chasing the target, Babar Azam began the innings with left-hander Sharjeel Khan but the captain himself was outclassed by newly debut Zeeshan Zameer. Coming to the crease, Joe Clarke who is also the wicketkeeper didn’t open his account and went on a duck. Sahibzada Farhan joined Sharjeel Khan on the wicket in order to complete the target given by United.
The 59-run partnership ended up at 76 when Waqas Mehmood snuggled the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan. The heroics of Imad Wasim and Qasim Akram later went wasted when hero of the day and especially the last over, Waqas Maqsood helped Islamabad United record a thrilling victory. Asif Ali emerged as player of the match with his all-round performance as he struck 28 runs and bagged two important wickets (2-27).
Squads:
Karachi Kings team: Babar Azam (c), Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke, Jordan Thompson, Mohammad Nabi, Sahibzada Farhan, Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim, Chris Jordan, Umaid Asif, Mir Hamza.
Islamabad United team: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Alex Hales, Muhammad Akhlaq, Shadab Khan (c), Asif Ali, Azam Khan(w), Hasan Ali, Liam Dawson, Faheem Ashraf, Waqas Maqsood, Zeeshan Zameer.
