United seal their first victory by 2 runs in a thrilling encounter against Kings
This was an important game for a struggling Islamabad United team as they searched for their first points, while Karachi Kings were looking to regroup after a crushing defeat from Quetta Gladiators by 8 wickets from the day before. The stage was set for a thrilling encounter between these two teams who were billed as favourites by many before the tournament began. Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to field first, something which all teams seem to be doing other than Peshawar Zalmi. United’s opening pair had failed to make an impact so far in the HBL PSL and things were looked bright for them as Watson smashed Amir for a well timed six towards deep mid wicket early on and Sharjeel Khan seemed to be in good touch. Just as we began to feel it was Watson’s day, he was dismissed leg before by Imad Wasim in the fifth over. Out stepped Khalid Latif for the first time in the tournament and looked to take on Karachi’s bowling straight away. He hit Shakib for a glorious six and then showed similar treatment to Imad Wasim, and suddenly United were off to their best start so far with 71/1 after ten overs.
Kings clawed their way back in with an amazing bowling display, as Sharjeel was dismissed by Amir after scoring 28 from 27. Khalid (39 from 35) was bowled by Ravi Bopara next and Misbah’s men were in trouble once again. Wickets began to fall quickly as Ashar Zaidi got himself run out, and the young leg spinner Usama Mir bowled beautifully to get rid of Andre Russell soon after. In a span of 10 balls, United lost 4 wickets as their middle order collapsed like a deck of cards. After a decent start, United’s batting disappointed and failed to capitalize as Karachi’s bowling proved too hot to handle. Misbah threw away his wicket to Bopara, and Islamabad’s running between the wickets did not help much either as three of their batsmen got run out. Mohammad Sami provided a late surge for United towards the end of their innings, with a quick cameo of 20 runs from 9 deliveries, helping them reach 132/8. United could only manage to score 61 runs and lost seven wickets in their last ten overs. Karachi Kings must have felt pretty confident going into the break.
Islamabad United needed to pick up early wickets and that’s exactly what they did! Lendl Simmons was run out in the second over through some brilliant work by Ashar Zaidi in the outfield. Saeed Ajmal got James Vince on his very first delivery and Karachi were 3/2 in no time! Imad Wasim took the initiative and hit three consecutive boundaries against Ajmal and the Kings looked to pick up some momentum. Imad raced off to 29 runs before he edged one to Sam Billings off Andre Russell’s bowling. Sami bowled out Malik next as he dragged it onto the stumps and United were back in business. Shakib Al Hasan tried to get some runs flowing but he could only manage 20 from 22 as he was sent back to the pavilion along with Saifullah Bangash in the same over by Saeed Ajmal. With 15 overs gone, Karachi Kings were 87/7, needing 46 runs from 30 balls with three wickets in hand.
Ravi Bopara took it upon himself to take Karachi over the line and kept scoring quick runs. Sohail Tanveer was run out in the 17th over and it was all down to Bopara to finish the job. He batted brilliantly and smashed 18 runs off Mohammad Sami in the 18th over and added another 13 in the very next over with Usama Mir. Karachi needed 16 runs in the last over as Shane Watson took it upon himself to ensure United got their first victory of the tournament. Mir perished on the first ball as he tried to take a quick single and there was extreme tension in both camps. Amir smacked a boundary on the first ball he faced from Watson, followed that with two dots, before handing over the strike to Bopara. He was presented with a gift from Watson which he duly dispatched for six, and Karachi needed 4 runs from the last ball! Shane Watson bowled a neat yorker to ensure United scraped through by 2 runs. This was by far the match of the tournament and Dean Jones would be relieved to finally make his mark on the HBLPSL.
