KARACHI                 -               Karachi Kings knocked Islamabad United out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 after registering four-wicket victory in the 28th match played here at the empty National Stadium on Saturday night.

With this victory, Karachi Kings joined Multan Sultans in the semifinal race to be played at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on March 17. On the other hand, the other three teams, who have chances to grab the remaining two spots in the semifinal are Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi.

Umaid Asif was the player, who finished the game for Karachi Kings with a boundary in 19.2 over. Chasing the modest target of 137 runs, Karachi went off to a flying start, thanks to brilliant knocks of Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam as the duo posted 60 runs on the board in five overs for the first-wicket partnership.

At this stage, Akif Javed provided a much-needed breakthrough to Islamabad United in shape of Sharjeel’s wicket, who left the crease after scoring bristling 37 runs off 14 deliveries. Babar Azam was the next batsman to walk back to the dugout as he was bowled out by Muhammad Musa at his personal score of 19 runs.

With 77 runs remaining in 14 overs, Islamabad United made a strong comeback in the game reducing Karachi Kings to 105-5 in 15.4 overs. With 30 runs remaining in last three overs, Chadwick Walton (11) and Umaid Asif (13) seek the Kings over the line with four wickets in hand. Shadab Khan claimed two wickets for United while Akif Javed, Rumman Raees, Zafar Gohar and Muhammad Musa got one wicket apiece. Sharjeel Khan was declared player of the match.

Earlier, Karachi Kings restricted Islamabad United to 136-6 in the allotted 20 overs. After losing the toss at the National Stadium in a must win game for them, Islamabad United went off to a decent start. At the score of 35, Karachi Kings have the first success in shape of Rizwan Hussain’s wicket, who gathered 17 runs with the help of two boundaries.

Following his departure, United started losing wickets on regular intervals. Hussain Talat emerged as top scorer as he cracked 30-ball 37 runs, laced with four boundaries, while Phil Salt struck 25 runs as Islamabad United managed to score 136 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. Iftikhar Ahmed, Arshad Iqbal, Chirs Jordan, Imad Wasim and Umaid Asif claimed one wicket each for Karachi Kings.

Points Table

TEAM M W L PT NRR
Multan Sultans 9 6 1 14 1.307
Karachi Kings 9 5 3 11 0.014
Peshawar Zalmi 10 4 5 9 -0.055
Lahore Qalandars 9 4 5 8 -0.175
Islamabad United 10 3 6 7 0.185
Quetta Gladiators 9 3 5 7 -1.052

Scorecard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:
Rizwan Hussain c Walton b Umaid 17
PD Salt c Jordan b Imad Wasim 25
Hussain Talat c Delport b Iftikhar 37
Shadab c Iftikhar b Arshad Iqbal 12
CA Ingram run out 14
Asif Ali c Usama Mir b Jordan 2
Faheem Ashraf not out 12
Zafar Gohar not out 13
EXTRAS: (nb 1, w 3) 4
TOTAL: (6 wkts, 20 overs) 136
FOW: 1-35, 2-59, 3-79, 4-97, 5-100, 6-116.
BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 4-0-28-0, Umaid Asif 2-0-14-1, CJ Jordan 4-0-28-1, Imad Wasim 3-0-23-1, Usama Mir 2-0-18-0, Arshad Iqbal 2-0-13-1, Iftikhar Ahmed 3-0-12-1.
KARACHI KINGS:
Sharjeel Khan lbw b Akif Javed 37
Babar Azam b Muhammad Musa 19
CS Delport b Shadab Khan 11
Imad Wasim c Salt b Zafar Gohar 26
Iftikhar Ahmed c Asif Ali b Shadab 1
C Walton c Hussain b Rumman 11
CJ Jordan not out 6
Umaid Asif not out 13
EXTRAS: (b 2, lb 5, w 6) 13
TOTAL: (6 wkts, 19.2 overs) 137
FOW: 1-60, 2-60, 3-90, 4-104, 5-106, 6-118.
BOWLING: Muhammad Musa 4-1-24-1, Zafar Gohar 4-0-20-1, Akif Javed 3-0-20-1, Rumman Raees 3.2-0-31-1, Faheem Ashraf 1-0-7-0, Shadab Khan 4-0-28-2.
TOSS: Karachi Kings
UMPIRE: Michael Gough
TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz
MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama