Karachi Kings suffers fifth defeat in the current PSL

Analysis Knight Rider

Karachi Kings suffers fifth defeat in the current PSL

Karachi Kings suffers fifth defeat in the current PSL
Islamabad United, the two-time champion, triumphed by 42 runs, handing Karachi Kings their fifth straight loss in the Pakistan Super League.

Without a score, host Karachi, backed by Pakistan T20 skipper Babar Azam, will travel to Lahore for the last leg of the PSL next week. Another loss will put the squad on the verge of being eliminated.

Shadab Khan, the captain of Islamabad, who won the toss and chose to bat first, maintained his excellent all-round form and increased his wicket count to 14. Khan took 4-15 with his quick leg-spin bowling, limiting Karachi to 135-9 in their underwhelming chase.

Previously, on a sluggish and dry pitch, Islamabad's seasoned Twenty20 top order made 177-6, with Paul Stirling scoring 39 in his final PSL game of the season and Khan smashing 34 off 19 balls.

Stirling will return to Ireland for national service. In five PSL matches, the opener hit 187 runs, propelling Islamabad to No. 2 in the standings. They are just four points behind Multan Sulta

Azam stated that his team lacked confidence. He commented that regrettably, they have lost all of their games thus far, but he will strive to instill greater confidence in the guys in the coming weeks. In an otherwise lacklustre performance by his colleagues, Azam had three outstanding catches.

He added that he believes they gave up a few extra runs, but he still thought the total was reachable.

Injury-hit Karachi has failed to threaten opponents at home, while their crucial fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been knocked out of the competition without having played a single match.

Chris Jordan (2-36) of England took two late wickets in his first match. Babar took both catches to dismiss Shadab and Colin Munro (33) before Azam Khan's cameo of 16 off only 7 balls helped Islamabad reach their target.

When Babar (8) and Sharjeel Khan (6) were lost in the batting powerplay, Karachi always looked to struggle. In the fifth over, Sharjeel was run out after a mix-up with his captain, while fast bowler Mohammad Wasim knocked back Babar's off stump.

Shadab then ripped through the middle order with his crisp googlies and legspinners, before Mohammad Nabi fought back with an unbeaten 47 off 28 deliveries.