RAWALPINDI: Having lost four matches in a row following five wins on the trot to open their HBL Pakistan Super League campaign, Islamabad United arrived here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday night with the intent to stamp their authority as the defending champions.
To Karachi Kings’ horror, the holders went on to post a mammoth total before bundling Kings out cheaply as Shadab Khan led from the front, contributing both with the bat and the ball.
The all-rounder’s batting effort — 42 off 19 with the help of three fours and as many sixes — was a cameo in the bigger scheme of things, which saw Sahibzada Farhan and Alex Hales smash blistering half centuries to help United to 251-5.
But Shadab’s leg-spin accounted for four wickets at the expense of 45 runs, and that performance eventually defined the match, choking Kings batters through the middle of their chase as United won by 79 runs eventually.
The result saw United replace Kings in the second spot in the PSL standings as the tournament’s league stage ended, earning a spot in Wednesday’s qualifier against Quetta Gladiators. Kings, meanwhile, dropped down to third and will take on Lahore Qalandars in the eliminator on Thursday.
Kings had a decent powerplay as they gathered 62-1 during the field restrictions while also losing opener Tim Seifert (26 off 17, five fours) to a toe-crushing yorker by pacer Salman Irshad.
They lost incoming James Vince as the Englishman was deceived by Imad Wasim’s left-arm spin before Salman got Saad Baig as the right-hander, slicing one to Shadab.
Imad then returned to clean up Kings captain David Warner (43 off 28, four fours and two sixes) and Shadab caught Khushdil Shah off his own bowling and saw Mohammad Nabi hole him out to Haider Ali to deep midwicket to leave Kings reeling at 107-6 by the end of the 12th over.
Shadab returned in the 14th over to get Irfan Khan before the spinner castled Hasan Ali. With Karachi in a mess, Abbas Afridi cleared deep extra cover, cow corner and long-on off Shadab for three sixes in the 16th over to give his team hope.
But the right-hander departed when Salman’s slower one took an edge off his bat for wicket-keeper Ghazi Ghori to take an easy catch as proceedings virtually ended before Salman (3-28) got Aamer Jamal.
Earlier, Farhan and Hales fired as United were put into bat. Farhan smashed 73 off 41 — an innings laced with nine fours and three sixes — while Hales plundered the Kings bowlers for 88 off 35 with the help of six fours and eight sixes.
The pair had made the most of the flat track to help United cruise to 76-0 in the powerplay. Farhan brought up his half century in 28 balls by the eighth over, until which he had demonstrated class with eight fours and a six.
The right-hander went deep into his crease to power Hasan’s pace high and long over midwicket to help United cross the 100-run mark before Hales hit three sixes and a four in the 10th over off Aamer as his team posted 130 at halfway stage.
After Kings spinner Khushdil was smacked for 20 runs in the 11th over for United to reach 150, Farhan finally faltered, chipping Mir Hamza to Abbas at short fine-leg.
The dismissal got Kings back into the game with Aamer seeing Rassie van der Dussen hole him out to Warner on the boundary before miscommunication between the incoming Salman Ali Agha and Hales got the former run out.
However, captain Shadab’s arrival injected impetus into United’s effort yet again, the right-hander hit sixes off Hasan, Aamer and Khushdil before Hales was castled by the spinner.
But Shadab kept going on, finding two boundaries through the off-side off Khushdil as United crossed the 200-run mark in the 17th over. The fireworks relented after that but sixes by Haider Ali and Ben Dwarshuis, along with two more boundaries pushed United to a total which proved to be far more than enough.
SCOREBOARD
ISLAMABAD UNITED:
Sahibzada Farhan c Abbas b Hamza 73
Alex Hales b Khushdil 88
Rassie van der Dussen c Warner b Aamer 1
Salman Ali Agha run out (Khushdil) 7
Shadab Khan run out (Seifert) 42
Haider Ali not out 19
Ben Dwarshuis not out 10
EXTRAS (B-4, W-7) 11
TOTAL (for five wickets, 20 overs) 251
DID NOT BAT: Imad Wasim, Ghazi Ghori, Salman Irshad, Tymal Mills
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-153 (Farhan), 2-163 (van der Dussen), 3-172 (Salman), 4-199 (Hales), 5-237 (Shadab)
BOWLING: Hamza 4-0-41-1 (1w), Khushdil 4-0-58-1 (1w), Hasan 4-0-46-0, Abbas 4-0-51-0 (1w), Aamer 4-0-51-1 (4w),
KARACHI KINGS:
Tim Seifert b Salman 26
David Warner b Imad 43
James Vince c Agha b Imad 8
Saad Baig c Shadab b Agha 5
Irfan Khan c Agha b Shadab 14
Khushdil Shah c&b Shadab 1
Mohammad Nabi c Haider b Shadab 5
Aamer Jamal lbw b Salman 16
Hasan Ali b Shadab 0
Abbas Afridi c Ghazi b Salman 34
Mir Hamza not out 12
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-3) 8
TOTAL (all out, 18.2 overs) 172
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-56 (Seifert), 2-80 (Vince), 3-85 (Saad), 4-100 (Warner), 5-101 (Khushdil), 6-107 (Nabi), 7-114 (Irfan), 8-114 (Hasan), 9-155 (Abbas)
BOWLING: Dwarshuis 3-0-30-0, Mills 3-0-33-0 (1w), Salman 3.2-0-28-3 (1w), Imad 4-0-22-2 (1w), Shadab 4-0-45-4, Agha 1-0-9-1
RESULT: Islamabad United won by 79 runs.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Alex Hales
Final standings
Tabulated under (Teams, matches, wins, losses, NR, points, net run-rate)
Gladiators 10 7 2 1 15 1.393
United 10 6 4 – 12 0.372
Kings 10 6 4 – 12 0.049
Qalandars 10 5 4 1 11 1.036
Zalmi 10 4 6 – 8 -0.293
Sultans 10 1 9 – 2 -2.449
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025