Karachi, Islamabad vie for momentum

Imad-led side, Shadab’s men have won their respective opening matches

KARACHI:

Defending champions of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) Karachi Kings face two-time champions Islamabad United on Wednesday as both teams plan to carry on their winning momentum.

The bad news for one team is that they will have one win and one defeat in their kitty when the match ends, but a well-fought defeat can also help the loser gain confidence for the upcoming matches.

In their campaign till now, Imad Wasim-led Karachi have faced Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Quetta Gladiators and the Kings came out of the match with a comfortable victory.

Although Joe Clarke helped Karachi chase the 122-run target with his 46 runs off 23 balls, but the player of the match was emerging pacer Arshad Iqbal, who bagged three wickets for only 16 runs in his four overs to choke the big-hitting Quetta line-up of batsmen.

Quetta would have been happy to see ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle find the middle of the bat, but the news of him leaving to join the national squad has probably broken a lot of hearts.

Karachi’s opponents Islamabad, led by Shadab Khan, had a topsy-turvy start to the tournament, where Lewis Gregory saved their blushes at the end of the match against Multan.

Multan were in solid control after the Sultans bowlers had dried up runs for Islamabad during the latter’s chase of a 151-run target. However, Gregory gave no respect to Sohail Tanvir when he hit him for 19 runs in the penultimate over of the match with only 20 required of 12 balls.

Islamabad were jubilant over the victory, but they would have huddled together after the match to identify and then rectify their mistakes in the match.

Key players for Karachi

Karachi are in no mood to lose confidence which they’ve carried on from the fifth edition of the HBL PSL and with Babar Azam in their batting line-up, they don’t have any reason to do so too.

While Babar may not have been in great run-scoring form in the past few international matches, he came into the HBL PSL6 with a score of 24 off 20 balls against Quetta. It may not be the perfect start for him, but he is surely going to start firing on all cylinders soon.

Meanwhile, a 46-run innings from 23 ball by wicketkeeper-batsman Joe Clarke and a 14-ball 30 by Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi was also a welcome sight for Karachi as they look to defend their title.

In the bowling department, they can always rely on the experienced Mohammad Amir to lead the attack, but what was important to see for Karachi was that young pacers Arshad and Waqas Maqsood were also on song from the word go.

Key players for Islamabad

Islamabad have a potent captain in the form of Shadab in their ranks, who can bat and bowl his team to victory, however, he’s not the only match-winner in the squad.

Gregory’s arrival in the Islamabad squad and his impeccable game awareness, which he displayed against Multan, shows that he is going to be one of the more important member in the Islamabad squad.

Apart from the two, Islamabad’s line-up boasts some of the biggest hitters in the form of Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and the currently in-form Faheem Ashraf.

With so many batsmen able to take the match away from the opposition, Islamabad are surely going to be one of the toughest sides to beat in HBL PSL6.

Their bowling department looks a little weak this year with no express pacers in the squad, but the pitch in Karachi and later in Lahore will surely help spinners at the business end of the tournament, something Islamabad have a surplus of.