Munro and Azam power Islamabad United to 4-wicket victory over Karachi Kings
- 17 Feb 2023
Colin Munro hit a blistering half-century as two-time champions Islamabad United handed Karachi Kings their second straight loss in the Pakistan Super League on Thursday night.
Munro’s 58 off 28 balls that featured four sixes and five boundaries was well-supported by Azam Khan’s 44 as Islamabad romped to 178-6 for a four-wicket win in their opening game with 10 balls to spare.
Karachi made four changes to their playing XI after losing the opening game to Peshawar Zalmi by two runs. But they couldn’t capitalise on Haider Ali’s brilliant 59 and were restricted at 173-7.
They missed left-arm fast bowler Mir Hamza, who was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his hand during the first game, but his replacement James Fuller conceded 37 off his three overs.
Islamabad’s strategy of packing their playing XI with power-hitters worked well as Munro shared two rapid half-century stands with Rassie van der Dussen (31) and Azam despite losing Paul Stirling and rookie Hassan Nawaz inside the batting powerplay.
Karachi was scratchy in the field with Shoaib Malik dropping Stirling soon after Mohammad Amir had struck in his first over and then Musa Khan floored an easy catch of Van der Dussen at fine leg.
Munro started off in belligerent fashion with three boundaries against his former Islamabad teammate — fast bowler Musa Khan — on the off-side before smoking three sixes against seamer Fuller who either bowled too full or too short.
Munro was finally dismissed when he was run-out in a mix-up with Azam in the 15th over. But Azam, the Islamabad wicket-keeper batter, carried his brilliant batting form in the recent Bangladesh Premier League where he had scored a century as he smashed three fours against Musa in the following over before holing out in the deep while going for a big hit to reach his 50.
Earlier, Haider and Sharjeel Khan (34) had provided a solid platform of 81-1 by the halfway stage but Karachi lost momentum in the latter half once Munro sprinted from deep mid-wicket and took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Sharjeel in the 11th over.
Haider, who was traded to Karachi from Peshawar this season, holed out to long-on after Faheem Ashraf had him deceived off a slower delivery.
Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim dismissed Matthew Wade (18) and captain Imad Wasim off successive deliveries in the 16th over that took the wheels off Karachi’s innings.
Associated Press
