Munro, Ifthikar stun Karachi Kings in tall chase
In Islamabad United Vs Karachi Kings | Match 22 | PSL 6 Islamabad United beat Karachi Kings 190 for 4 (Babar 81, Zadran 71*) by eight wickets to move two points clear of Lahore Qalandars at the top of the PSL standings. Colin Munro and Iftikhar Ahmed pulled off a stunning turnaround in the second half of the innings as Islamabad United secured a comprehensive victory over Karachi Kings.
The pair won with eight balls to spare after overcoming a slow start to score 150 off 79 balls.Munro finished with a 56-ball 88, and Iftikhar hit the game-winning shot with a 39-ball 71 as the Kings’ defense fell apart.
The Kings, who had previously scored 190 on a true surface, were pictured with dropped catches, extras, and bowlers who appeared to be flustered.That was made certain by Najibullah Zadran’s unbeaten 71 and Babar Azam’s 81;It wasn’t enough, as it turned out.
When Karachi Do It Smart Kings took the field, they got off to a respectable start.Sharjeel Khan provided them with insurance, hitting two sixes in the powerplay in an opening stand of 37 while Azam took some time to figure out the pitch.
Babar opened up after falling to establish boundaries.It was a reversal of roles, with No.3 During his brief stay, Martin Guptill struggled with timing before eventually continuing.
They were still going at nine runs per over, however, thanks to the steady start to the innings.Babar and Zadran kept up the pace from that point on because they thought the pitch was good for driving up.Babar made good use of the surface’s lift and bounce to hit drives and flicks through extra cover and occasionally indulged in hitting fast bowlers over their heads.He liked Hasan Ali a lot, but he lost the match to him on 81 in the 19th over in Islamabad United Vs Karachi Kings | Match 22 | PSL 6.
With Babar, with whom he had scored 117 runs in just over 12 overs, Zadran prevailed and came into his own with assured aerial shots toward the end.
He was devastating with the cut shot early on, and he particularly liked Shadab Khan, from whom he hit sixes in the 14th over, one over extra cover and one over midwicket.They scored more than 15 points per over on four occasions during that 14th over.They were brought down to 190, but that wasn’t enough.
A sluggish beginning to the pursuit
Joined had a smudgy, ungraceful beginning to their pursuit.With an outswing, Amir had Usman Khawaja in knots in the first over. Waqas Maqsood also kept Munro relatively quiet at the other end.United had only three boundaries in their first three overs.
They only had 28 runs and a brand-new No. 1 when Khawaja was run out in the fifth over.3 by Muhammad Akhlaq lasted only two balls before Maqsood completely destroyed his off stump.
Similar to how the pitch appeared to be, the pattern would hold.On a pitch that appeared to have suddenly slowed down, Munro and Iftikhar had few chances to score.Munro consistently found the fielders when he appeared to have bludgeoned the ball.They didn’t look good in the chase, at 72 for 2 in 10 overs, like a wicket would let the Kings in.
Maqsood and Perera endure the agony of the wicket not arriving.However, it may have.After charging down the track toward Abbas Afridi at the beginning of the 12th over, Munro toe-ended a pull shot in the middle of the field.Maqsood was given a straightforward catch, which he didn’t have to move much to drop.
From that point on, Munro was able to hit four boundaries in the space of one over, one of which brought him up to fifty.Over square leg, Iftikhar also hurled one into the grass banks.For the Kings, it marked the beginning of their end.At that point, United needed 80 from seven, so Thisara Perera was given the ball after the strategic break.Imad Wasim couldn’t finish his overs because he broke his finger trying to catch a return catch.
Munro hit the first ball for six and the second for four before tossing Perera’s second ball of the evening, a waist-high full toss, over cover.Munro clubbed his subsequent high full toss straight to long-off.However, the third umpire intervened to rule it above waist height, and Iftikhar launched the free hit into the leg side.
Twenty-three came off Perera’s 14th over, the previous over.Munro and Iftikhar unleashed a force that proved too much for the Kings at that pivotal moment;Munro scored ten boundaries and two sixes at the end, while Iftikhar scored five fours and five sixes.It was a sign of how badly Kings’ bowling failed during the game’s final quarter.
Colin Munro Munro, Iftikhar Ahmed blow out Karachi in high-scoring game A stunning attack by Colin Munro and Iftikhar Ahmed blew out Karachi Kings in their PSL match on Monday (June 14), securing Islamabad United’s top spot.By the halfway point, Islamabad’s chances appeared to be fading as they only had 72 runs on a two-paced surface chasing 191.However, with eight balls remaining in the innings, the pair turned up the heat in the second half of the chase to stun the opposition.
Munro and Usman Khawaja started the chase slowly, scoring only 24 runs in the first four overs.Khawaja succumbed to the pressure with a top edge in the very next over.As soon as they got rid of Muhammad Akhlaq, Karachi overtook their opponents and successfully concluded the powerplay.
After that, Iftikhar took some time to settle in, starting with 14 off 14 before switching gears at halftime.Munro hit a six over deep midwicket, and the next over, he hit two boundaries off Abbas Afridi.
The New Zealand batsman scored two more boundaries in the next over to reach his half-century, prompting Karachi to enter panic mode.Munro designated Thisara Perera in the fourteenth over of the pursuit and Iftikhar adjusted it with a six to guarantee the 23-run over turned the energy towards his side.
Iftikhar managed to score his first PSL fifty, and even the returning Mohammad Amir was unable to stem the tide of boundaries.They eventually added 150 for the third wicket, Iftikhar hitting five sixes in his 71-ball unbeaten streak.Three days prior to this match, Munro had struck a blistering 90* off just 36 balls, remaining unbeaten on 88.
Babar Azam made another half-century earlier in the evening, retaking the lead in the batting rankings.Babar took a backseat to Sharjeel Khan when the left-hander smashed a boundary and a couple of sixes in the first four overs to race to 25 after scoring an unbeaten 85 in the first game since the tournament’s return.After he was run out in the next over, Babar took over and gave Karachi the perfect powerplay finish, scoring 17 runs off Ali Khan’s first over.
As Najibullah Zadran and Babar joined forces, Martin Guptill’s dismissal following the powerplay did more good than harm for the batting side.In stunning fashion, the pair added 117 runs for the third wicket to demoralize the bowling unit.In the middle overs, Najibullah continued to score boundaries as he smashed Shadab Khan for sixes in succession to complete the half-century stand.
After that, Babar scored three fours and a six in seven deliveries before Najibullah destroyed Mohammad Wasim’s total with a 21-run over.Karachi would have hoped to reach 200 if it weren’t for the wickets of Babar and Thisara Perara in the last two overs, but that would still have been insufficient for the night.
Brief ratings: Karachi Kings scored 190/4 in 20 overs (Babar Azam scored 81 and Najibullah Zadran scored 71);Hasan Ali went down 191/2 to Islamabad United in 18.4 overs (Colin Munro scored 88*, Iftikhar Ahmed scored 71*);Waqas Maqsood 1-27) by 8 wickets Islamabad United need only one more win to qualify, and they appear to have everything going for them. Karachi, on the other hand, need to step it up a notch if they are to recover from this loss. Waqas Maqsood 1-27)Rishi Roy is currently escorting Sriram AS and Vinod out of the room.Good evening!
Shadab Khan is the captain of Islamabad United: Because it’s a team game and our lower order performs well when our top order fails, I believe everyone is aware of their roles.It was not expected of a young team that our field intensity would be low.The outcome will always be in our favor if each player gives their all.We may fight in the heat of the moment, but in the end, we’re all good friends off the field.
Man of the Match: Iftikhar Ahmed (71 points off 39):We are asked to play until the very end by our captain and coach, so I try to reduce the number of dots and finish it.We must be able to change our batting position;I only need to perform for the team, and I’m glad I did.
Imad Wasim, captain of the Karachi Kings: To be honest, we don’t have many options with the ball.We need to talk about this honestly because it was harder for the spinners and because I injured my finger, I was unable to bowl all of my overs.We should have targeted the bowlers much more effectively given that we were 15-20 runs short.We didn’t play well and didn’t make our catches, so we can’t expect good results if we don’t play well enough.We have nothing to lose, so we will absolutely attempt to fight back.
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