Powerful innings by Colin Munro and Iftikhar Ahmed powered Islamabad United to eight-wicket win over Karachi Kings in the 22nd match of the Sixth Edition of the Pakistan Super League 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Munro and Ahmed remained not out, as they scored 88 and 71, respectively.
Usman Khawaja and Munro opened for Islamabad United and skipper Imad Wasim picked pacer Mohammad Amir to bowl the first over to Karachi Kings.
Abbas Afridi gave his team a breakthrough when he dismissed Khawaja for 12 in the fourth over. Waqas Maqsood took Muhammad Akhlaq’s wicket in the next over to build up the pressure, but it could not help their team win.
Karachi Kings innings
Earlier, Babar Azam and Najibullah Zadran helped Karachi Kings set a 191-run target for Islamabad United.
Azam (81) and Zadran’s (71) 117-run partnership helped Kings put up a competitive score against the Shadab Khan-led side.
The Kings started off steady, but it did not last long, as Akif Javed dismissed Sharjeel Khan (25) in the fourth over, while Mohammad Wasim bowled Martin Guptill (6) in the seventh over.
However, Azam and Zadran became the torchbearers for the Kings, till Hasan Ali dismissed Azam.
Earlier, Islamabad United won the toss and decided to bowl first against Karachi Kings.
The match started at 9pm local time.
Islamabad United were confident to win the match as they bagged two back-to-back victories in the last couple of matches. They made a stunning comeback after Lahore Qalandars trounced them in the first match after the Abu Dhabi-leg resumed.
Defending champions Karachi Kings were struggling to improve the ranking
Squads
Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, Ali Khan, Akif Javed, Asif Ali, Brandon King, Colin Munro, Fawad Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Akhlaq, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir, Umar Amin, Usman Khawaja, Zafar Gohar and Zeeshan Zameer
Karachi Kings: Imad Wasim (c), Abbas Afridi, Amir Yamin, Arshad Iqbal, Babar Azam, Chadwick Walton, Danish Aziz, Martin Guptill, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Haris, Thisara Perera, Najeebullah Zadran, Noor Ahmed, Qasim Akram, Sharjeel Khan, Waqas Maqsood and Zeeshan Malik
Islamabad United s Hassan Ali opts to stay for the remainder of PSL 6
