Shadab powers Islamabad United to victory

In order to help the visitors cross the finish line with 17 balls remaining, captain Shadab Khan scored the most runs with the bat (47), after returning the best statistics with the ball (2–17).

Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by six wickets on Sunday at the National Stadium, extending their winning streak in the PSL 2025 and scoring their fourth consecutive victory of the year.

Before Tim Seifert and Saad Baig momentarily stabilised the batting, Kings lost the wickets of David Warner and James Vince cheaply when they were put in to bat. Seifert, in particular, found it difficult to get going and only got one boundary in his 37-ball stint before giving Imad Wasim a return catch.

It was still hard for most hitters to make runs on a slow Karachi pitch where the ball was staying low. They continued to lose wickets as they attempted to play across the line, and by the end of the 18th over, Kings had slithered to 102 for 7. Jason Holder and Naseem Shah also contributed with a brace, despite the pacers having no movement available.

The hosts reached 128 for 7, which Warner thought was 20 runs shy of being competitive, thanks to a late burst from Abbas Afridi, who hit three sixes and a boundary.

Because of Sahibzada Farhan’s early blitz, United had it a little simpler in the run-chase. To give the United innings some early impetus, the opener hit three consecutive boundaries off Hasan Ali in the second over of the chase.

Azam Khan and Shadab later took good advantage of Farhan’s 18-ball 30 even though Hasan came back to score twice in rapid succession. Without taking any unnecessary chances, the pair built a 65-run partnership for the third wicket. They had done a good job of assessing the situation by that point, and Kings found it difficult to regain the momentum because they had a low objective to pursue.

With a steady stream of boundaries, the pair maintained a high tempo throughout the innings. They waited to profit from the weak deliveries; Shadab even hit two sixes in a row in overs that Khushdil Shah and Aamer Jamal bowled.

After the team reached the 100-run milestone, both hitters left, but it was too late for the Kings to rally.