Daily Times

Today’s match:

Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators at 07:30 pm (PST)

LAHORE: Karachi Kings lost their seventh consecutive match of Pakistan Super League VII when they were defeated by Islamabad United in a nail-biting thrilling contest at Gaddafi Stadium here on Monday night. With this defeat, Babar Azam-led Karachi are the first team to be eliminated from the title race and have engraved their name in history by becoming the only team in PSL to lose seven consecutive matches. Before this, the unwanted record of most consecutive defeats in a single edition of PSL was with Lahore Qalandars. Lahore were beaten in six consecutive games in PSL 2018.

Chasing victory target of 192, Karachi top order could not give a good start to the team again in the fate-decider against Islamabad. Skipper Babar Azam (13) got out to a quick and short delivery from young pacer Zeeshan Zameer. Sharjeel Khan scored a blistering 29-ball 44 runs, but Joe Clarke (zero) and Sahibzada Farhan (17) failed to perform yet again. The hopes of Karachi winning the match and keeping their chances of play-offs alive arose after Imad Wasim (55) and Qasim Akram’s (51 not out) late 108-run cameo, but they also went down in the last over when Imad was dismissed by Waqas Maqsood. Liam Dawson and Waqas were the stand-out bowlers for the Islamabad. Waqas took three wickets and gave away 34 runs, while Dawson was more economical as he took one wicket and gave away just 21 runs.

Earlier, Islamabad made 191 for the loss of seven wickets after being invited to bat first. It was an all-around performance from the Islamabad batsmen as they all delivered after a slow start to the game. Skipper Shadab Khan was the top scorer of Islamabad as he made 34 off 26 balls before getting bowled out by Imad. Asif Ali and Faheem Ashraf also scored blistering innings, Asif made 28 and Faheem 29. Imad was the standout bowler for Karachi as he took two wickets at the expense of 30 runs in four overs.