KARACHI: Three-time champions Islamabad United beat home team Karachi Kings by 8 wickets in match 25 of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at the National Bank Stadium on Thursday.
United skipper Shadab Khan’s decision to bat first paid off as his side’s bowling department managed a modest total of 150/6 in 20 overs, despite an unbeaten half-century from Reza Hendricks.
Hendricks top-scored for the Kings with an unbeaten 51 off 44 balls, followed by Jason Roy (39) and wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan (34) as the other batsmen to hit double figures against a disciplined United bowling attack.
Richard Gleeson and Shadab took 2 wickets each while Mohammad Hasnain and Faheem Ashraf took one wicket each for United.
In turn, they made light work of the three-time champions’ 151-run target with 2 wickets and 24 balls to spare.
Leading the way for the visitors was emerging opener Samir Minhas, who scored a top-scoring 48 off 36 balls with 10 fours.
He was followed by fellow opener Devon Conway, who scored an unbeaten 53 off as many balls, while skipper Shadab hit a 16-ball 31.
Moeen Ali and Hasan Ali took one wicket each for the Kings side.
The eight-wicket win helped Islamabad United move into second place in the PSL with nine points after seven games with 11 points, pipping Multan Sultans to third with eight points from six matches, while 2017 champions Peshawar Zalmi remained at the top with 13 points.
| Teams | Competitions | succeeds | Losses | No results | points | Net flow rate |
| Peshawar Salmi | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 2.404 |
| Islamabad United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1.481 |
| Sultans of Multan | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0.527 |
| Hyderabad Kingsmen | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6 | -0.470 |
| Kings of Karachi | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -1.501 |
| Quetta Gladiators | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.258 |
| Lahore Colleagues | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.863 |
| Rawalpindi’s | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.821 |
On the other hand, Karachi Kings, fifth with six points after six matches, registered their third win with a five-wicket victory over winless Rawalpindis earlier today due to a lower net run rate than Hyderabad Kingsmen.
Meanwhile, the previous edition’s finalists Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars are sixth and seventh respectively as both the sides have collected four points.