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RAWALPINDI: Underlining his team’s batting collapse in their last match was a result of fearless approach, Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan on Thursday vowed they would put up an improved show in the remaining HBL Pakistan Super League matches.
Third-placed United — with three wins and two losses in five games so far — in their next match face Karachi Kings, placed fifth, here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
“Though United’s record here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium is not that good, this time around we will show good performance to improve our record at our home ground,” Shadab said during a pre-match new conference on Thursday.
“Because of our fearless approach, our batting collapsed against Lahore Qalandars,” the leg-spinning all-rounder said, referring to the massive 110-run loss his team suffered at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore last Monday.
Shadab emphasised captaincy did not affect his performance noting United had been displaying top-notch performance in the PSL in the last couple of seasons.
Commenting on Kings’ below-par performance in PSL-8, he said they were big franchise who know how to come out from such situations. “Therefore, we will go all out against them tomorrow,” he said.
The Kings, the 2020 PSL champions, slipped to fifth with four points in seven PSL-8 matches with a narrow 24-run defeat against Zalmi.
On Wednesday night, Kings’ wicket-keeper/batter batter Matthew Wade expressed confidence in his team’s ability to make it to the playoffs, terming their last three matches important.
Left-handed Wade, who scored a 41-ball 53 in the 198-run chase in their previous PSL-8 game against Peshawar Zalmi in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, shared his disappointment over failing to finish the game.
“It would have been nice if I had finished the game, that’s my job as a top-order player,” Wade told reporters in the post-match presser.
“As I said, the [asking] rate was crazy enough high, we needed 12 or 13 [runs per over]. I felt like if they gave me the ball up, I would hit areas I thought I could hit and was going to take it down straight but missed it,” the Australian said. “Yeah it is disappointing that I couldn’t go on and pose a bigger score but we’ll get another opportunity [vs United on Friday] in a few days, we have to bounce back, we have to win the next three games and win them well and give ourselves a chance for the finals.”
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023
