RAWALPINDI: Karachi Kings had to wait for two years to pull one back on Islamabad United in the HBL Pakistan Super League when a belligerent Alex Hales knock inspired them to a crucial five-wicket victory at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Sunday night.

Set a challenging target of 184, Karachi Kings — who last beat Islamabad United at Sharjah during the 2018 edition — overcame the early dismissal of Babar Azam, who was tragically run out without facing a ball, to seal only their fifth win in 13 outings against the two-time former champions.

Hales, who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his 30-ball innings of 52 that featured three sixes and three fours, was greatly assisted in the chase by Sharjeel Khan. The left-handed opener made his significant contribution by clobbering four massive sixes and three fours in a hurricane 20-ball 38, while Cameron Delport also struck 38 with his 28-ball effort adorned with three sixes and a four.

Islamabad United might have turned the tables had luck favoured them. The arrival of Dale Steyn — who joined the franchise on Saturday after completing his international commitments for South Africa — failed to lift them much, although the 36-year-old pace legend delivered the solitary maiden of the entire match when he opened the bowling.

And although Steyn did get the wicket of his fellow South African Delport, he was still tapped for 37 runs in what turned out an inauspicious PSL debut as Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim 932 off 15 balls, two sixes and two fours) and Chadwick Walton (23 off 17, three fours) settled the result by putting on 45 in 24 balls as their side score their second win in four matches with eight balls to spare.

After depressing scenes of the previous two days with rain almost running Friday’s game between Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars and then washing out the clash involving Peshawar and Islamabad the next day, Sunday dawned with glorious sunshine which dried up the stadium in quick time.

The opening period of the 14th fixture — in this tournament — was a tale of two contrasting halves after Imad opted to bowl first while assuming the pitch would have enough moisture underneath to assist both the pacemen and spinners. His philosophy paid off well in the first half of the innings as three wickets went down for 77 runs at the halfway point.

The final 10-over slot yielded 106 runs without either of Luke Ronchi and skipper Shadab Khan dismissed. Both registered excellent half-centuries and made the Karachi Kings pace trio of Mohammad Amir, Chris Jordan and Umaid Asif pay heavily for erring in line and direction. Between they conceded a staggering 126 in their collective quota of 12 overs.

Imad and fellow slow left-armer Umar Khan did a fabulous job under lights. Young Umar — who mystifyingly wasn’t used during Karachi Kings’ 52-run defeat to Multan Sultans last Friday — had Rizwan Hussain, who opened his account with a pulled six against Umaid, brilliant caught by Hales for 22. Imad on the other hand sent back Colin Ingram for 16 with the last ball of the 10th over with Walton taking a smart catch behind the timber.

What followed next was just carnage. Ronchi — the 38-year-old opener who also keeps wickets — played a wonderfully well-constructed innings to hit up 85 from 59 deliveries while striking nine boundaries and two sixes. Shadab, in the meantime, continued to prosper in his new role in the top order. His second PSL half-century was more spectacular as he blazed his way to 54 off 31 balls with four fours and three fours, while his partnership with Ronchi was worth 106 in 60 deliveries.

Current standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, tied, no-result, points, net run-run-rate):

Multan Sultans 5 4 1 0 0 8 +1.415

Quetta Gladiators 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.168

Islamabad United 6 2 3 0 1 5 -0.051

Peshawar Zalmi 5 2 2 0 1 5 -0.317

Karachi Kings 4 2 2 0 0 4 -0.457

Lahore Qalandars 3 0 3 0 1 0 -1.136

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

L. Ronchi not out 85 59 9 2 146.55

C. Munro c Jordan b Amir 1 5 0 0 20.00

Rizwan Hussain c Hales b Umar 22 14 2 1 157.14

C.A. Ingram c Walton b Imad 16 12 1 1 133.33

Shadab Khan not out 54 31 3 4

EXTRAS(lb-2, w-3) 5 - - - -

TOTAL (for three wkts, 20 overs) 183 - - - -

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2 (1.2 ov), 2-51 (Rizwan, 6.3 ov), 3-77 (Ingram, 9.6 ov).

DID NOT BAT: C.A.K. Walton, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, D.W. Steyn, Mohammad Musa Khan, Ahmed Safi Abdullah.

BOWLING: Imad Wasim 4-0-31-1; Mohammad Amir 4-0-40-1; Umaid Asif 4-0-45-0 (2w); Jordan 4-0-41-0 (1w); Umar Khan 4-0-24-1.

KARACHI KINGS:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Sharjeel Khan c Ronchi b Rumman 38 20 3 4 190.00

Babar Azam run out 0 0 0 0 0.00

A.D. Hales st Ronchi b Ahmed 52 30 3 3 173.33

C.S. Delport b Steyn 38 28 1 3 135.71

C.A.K. Walton not out 23 17 3 0 135.29

Iftikhar Ahmed run out 1 2 0 0 50.00

Imad Wasim not out 32 15 2 2 213.33

EXTRAS (W-3) 3 - - - -

TOTAL (for five wkts, 18.4 overs) 186 - - - -

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0 (Babar, 0.4 ov), 2-58 (Sharjeel, 5.1 ov), 3-122 (Delport, 12.2 ov), 4-136 (Hales, 13.6 ov), 5-139 (Iftikhar, 14.4 ov).

DID NOT BAT: Umaid Asif, C.J. Jordan, Mohammad Amir, Umar Khan.

BOWLING: Steyn 4-1-37-2 (2w); Rumman Raees Khan 3-0-27-1 (1w); Mohammad Musa Khan 3-0-32-0; Faheem Ashraf 2.4-0-47-0; Shadab Khan 4-0-23-0; Ahmed afi Abdullah 2-0-21-1.

RESULT: Karachi Kings won by five wickets.

UMPIRES: R.E.J. Martinesz (Sri Lanka) and Tariq Rasheed (Pakistan).

TV UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees (Pakistan).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Alex Hales (Karachi Kings).

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2020