Bureau Report
KARACHI: Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Talat lead Islamabad United to successfully chase 197 runs against Karachi Kings in the sixth match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 6.
Both batters scored 95 runs together to hand United their second consecutive win by five wickets in this year’s PSL. Earlier, Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam scored the highest PSL partnership of 176 runs as Kings posted the highest team’s total of 196-3 this year. Sent into bat first, Karachi Kings was in full swing amid a couple of dropped catches and caught on no-balls by United fielders. Sharjeel struck nine boundaries and eight sixes to score his second PSL century.
However, Babar supported his partner strongly and smashed 62 runs off 54 balls with the help of six boundaries and a six.
Sharjeel suffered earlier with the bat as he scored just 6 runs off 17 balls but thereafter he didn’t look back. Both the batters left United bowlers speechless before Babar got run-out. Daniel Christian added handy 12 runs off just five balls with the help of two boundaries whereas Mohammad Nabi struck a six on the second last ball to further strengthen the score. Hasan Ali was the lone wicket-taker from United.
In reply, United lost two early wickets but Alex Hales was on the mark with his magnificent power-hitting. He scored quick 46 runs off 21 balls laced with eight boundaries and a six despite wickets tumbling at the other end.
Faheem Ashraf made 25 runs before getting out Arshad Iqbal. But, Iftikhar and Hussain remained prominent in the end. Iftikhar was not-out for 49 runs whereas Hussain smashed 42 runs spread over four boundaries.
Asif Ali, in the end, supported Iftikhar to finish off things on a winning note for United. He scored 21 runs with the help of two boundaries and a six.
For Kings, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal, and Mohammad Nabi shared a wicket apiece.
