Sharjeel Khan hit the first century of the Pakistan Super League 2021 but it proved to be in vain as Islamabad United produced a fine display to overcome the Karachi Kings, winning by five wickets with five balls to spare.
United won the toss and elected to field, but originally struggled to break the Kings down.
The opening Karachi partnership of Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan were in an imperious mood and batted tremendously. Khan even hit four consecutive sixes in the ninth over of the innings as they looked to set a near unattainable total for their opponents to chase.
Meanwhile Azam reclaimed the title of leading runscorer in PSL history from Kamran Akmal when in the 11th over he claimed a quick single off Lewis Gregory’s bowling.
Azam and Khan kept the runs ticking over and in the 17th over they reached a partnership of 158 runs for no loss, which broke the record for the longest-standing opening partnership in PSL history.
Intriguingly enough, Babar Azam had been one of the previous pair to hold that record, when he and Liam Livingstone (now of Peshawar Zalmi) combined to hit 157 in a seven run victory over the Multan Sultans in 2019.
In the 18th over, with the score at 163/0, Khan brought up the maiden ton of the tournament, when he slapped Faheem Ashraf’s delivery back down the ground after catching it sweetly on the middle of his bat.
However, just six balls later, the Kings found themselves at the centre of a mini collapse when they lost both of the opening pair in two balls. Azam was the first to go, run-out coming back for a second, having originally been dropped by Alex Hales at long on for the second time in the game.
Next ball, it was Khan’s turn to go. Hasan Ali bowled and there was a huge appeal for LBW, but it was ruled not out. United reviewed and the replays showed the yorker struck Khan low down on the foot, whilst the ball-tracking system showed it would have gone on to crash into the stumps.
After no wickets for 18 overs, the Kings had now lost two in as many balls and stood at 176/2.
Dan Christian and Mohammad Nabi were in to see out the innings, and were able to add 19 to the total, with one added for a wide. However on the last ball of the innings, Nabi hit a full toss from Hussain Talat to cow corner where he was caught comfortably by Zafar Gohar. Kings reviewed as they believed it was a waist high no-ball but they reviewed to no avail.
Karachi finished on a total of 196/3 and Islamabad would need something special but they could draw on Sunday’s three-wicket victory against the Sultans with an over to play for inspiration.
However, the United innings got off to the worst possible start when, after just two balls, Phil Salt hooked a shot to long-on and was duly caught out by Dan Christian, who made none of the mistakes Alex Hales was guilty of in the first innings. 0/1 after just two deliveries.
Salt’s replacement at the crease, Shadab Khan was gone soon after when Mohammad Amir’s delivery struck him on the pads. The review system showed the ball to be pitching in line with leg stump and the captain’s day was over. United were left on 13/2 after 11 balls and any chances of victory looked slim.
It was at this stage Alex Hales started taking matters into his own hands. In the third over alone he hit 29 runs which included a no-ball that he struck four off. 29 runs conceded in six balls from Aamer Yamin meant he now held the unwanted record of bowling the most expensive over in PSL history. United and Hales had gone from 14/2 to 43/2 in the space of an over and their prospects looked a little brighter for it.
Hales looked in good shape and continued to slowly pick up runs until the 6th over, when a slow ball from Mohammad Amir successfully decieved Hales, who turned his bat too early resulting in the ball scooping upward towards mid-off where sub fielder Qasim Akram was waiting to catch him out. Despite the disappointing ending, it was a good session for Hales who departed the field with 46 runs to his name with Islamabad at 75/3.
Faheem Ashraf was gone just an over later for 25 runs, but was bowled by Arshad Iqbal when an attempted pull shot rocketed off the bottom edge of his bat and into the stumps. He had batted well since replacing Shadab Khan at the back end of the second over, but at 82/4 with six and a half overs gone, the match was precariously placed.
Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Talat were paired at the crease when Ashraf departed. Ahmed was on a solitary run when Talat joined him but together the pair put a cracking partnership which ultimately won Islamabad the game. Ahmed hit 49, whilst Talat hit 42 before being given LBW off a Mohammad Nabi delivery. Between them the pair hit six fours and three sixes whilst batting
and by the time Talat was made to walk, were 176/5 with 14 balls left to bowl.
Interestingly enough, Ahmed didn’t score a single run once Talat departed, instead leaving the run-scoring to Asif Ali, who duly obliged and hit the 21 runs needed to win off just nine balls that included two ferociously struck sixes.
It was a fabulous win from an unlikely position for Islamabad, who now find themselves in second place in the PSL table, only behind the Lahore Qalandars on net run rate. The next PSL fixtures take place this Friday, when the Qalandars play the Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators face off against Peshawar Zalmi.
