Usman-inspired Kings produce regal show to make second spot

SHARJAH: Karachi Kings grabbed the last remaining playoff berth in the 2018 HBL Pakistan Super League after a frenetic seven-wicket victory over table-toppers Islamabad United at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Friday night.

Far from being a ‘dead rubber’ encounter, the 30th and final fixture of the league stage culminated in a one-way traffic after Karachi put Islamabad into bat and eventually bowled them out for 124 in 19 overs before knocking off the required runs with consummate ease to seize second place with 11 points in the final team standings.

The result also meant Karachi have set up another meeting with Islamabad in the qualifier at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, while leaving Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators to face each other in the first eliminator in Lahore on Tuesday.

Resting key players Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Sami and Samit Patel also made Karachi’s task considerably easier because a defeat by either 15 or more runs — or if Islamabad winning with two overs to spare had they been chasing — could have been enough to eliminate Mickey Arthur’s side and let Multan Sultans sneaked into the playoffs behind Peshawar and Quetta.

A relieved Arthur said afterwards Karachi had their backs to the wall and they come into the match with all sorts of permutations in the minds.

“It’s really nice to do a press conference tonight because we have achieved our objective and that was to win. It’s good to qualify and sort of put ticks in place and tonight we ticked two of them in one game here. Our first tick was qualifying and our second tick was getting into the top two,” the Karachi head coach remarked.

“Thankfully we have got them both. I thought we prepared very well and had every permutation available today. Taking wickets was our priority because that helped in pegging back Islamabad. Therefore, I am pretty relieved and happy to have seen the guys take us through for the final push.”

Arthur felt delighted for Usman Khan Shinwari, who hit the straps with four wickets for 17 to claim the man-of-the-match award.

“We had a chat with Usman after the Lahore match when he bowled that no-ball at the death. He was down in the dumps following that fixture. But he remained positive nevertheless and told me ‘coach, I will come back stronger’ and that’s exactly he did. Usman had been simply outstanding in the last two games and that’s the character we want from all our players,” Arthur said.

Thus, the prime objective upfront for Karachi in the chase was the magical figure of 109 to edge out Multan. Joe Denly rocketed to 36 in before Babar Azam (29) and Colin Ingram (31) triggered off delirious scenes in the Karachi team dugout.

The tempo of this game, however, was somewhat disappointing when Islamabad batting crumbled from the onset after Eoin Morgan, again deputising for the injured Imad Wasim, elected to bowl first.

To the surprise of many, the atrocious batting performance was accentuated by the mode of dismissals in which at least half of the batters were guilty of recklessness, and although Asif Ali thrashed four sixes in making 34, Karachi never eased the pressure they exerted on Misbah-ul-Haq’s team.

Islamabad’s head coach Dean Jones conceded his team was outplayed by a better side.

“To be fair, our performance wasn’t up to the mark here and Karachi outplayed tonight but we also made several changes to rest our first-choice players for Sunday’s match. At the end of the day, we were hoping to finish 8-2, but I’m okay in finishing 7-3 at the conclusion of the league stage,” the former Australian batsman said.

Scoreboard

ISLAMABAD UNITED:

J.P. Duminy lbw b Usman 4
A.D. Hales c and b Irfan Jr 11
C.A.K. Walton b Afridi 21
Misbah-ul-Haq b Afridi 19
Hussain Talat c Ingram b Irfan Jr 1
Asif Ali b Mills 34
Shadab Khan c Babar b Amir 8
Fahim Ashraf b Usman 4
Amad Butt not out 13
Zafar Gohar c Afridi b Usman 3
S.T. Finn lbw b Usman 0

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1) 6

TOTAL (all out, 19 overs) 124

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-17, 3-52, 4-61, 5-63, 6-103, 7-105, 8-113, 9-123.

BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 3-0-14-1 (1w); Usman Khan Shinwari 4-0-17-4; Mohammad Irfan Jr 4-0-44-2; Mills 4-0-26-1; Shahid Afridi 4-1-18-2.

KARACHI KINGS:

Khurram Manzoor lbw b Finn 15
J.L. Denly b Fahim 36
Babar Azam not out 29
E.J.G. Morgan c Walton b Shadab 2
C.A. Ingram not out 31

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-6) 12

TOTAL (for three wkts, 17 overs) 125

FALL OF WKTS: 1-33, 2-69, 3-72.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Mohammad Amir, T.S. Mills, Usman Khan Shinwari.

BOWLING: Zafar Gohar 3-0-21-0 (2w); Amad Butt 2-0-27-0; Finn 3-0-21-1; Shadab Khan 4-0-22-1 (1w); Fahim Ashraf 3-0-13-1; Duminy 2-0-15-0.

RESULT: Karachi Kings won by seven wickets.