length ball on middle, heaves this over mid-on up in the ring to seal a six-wicket win with four balls to spare.
Kings vs United, 19th Match at Rawalpindi, PSL 2023, Mar 03 2023 - Match Result
United won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)
10.40 pm So Karachi Kings' playoff hopes are basically kaput. Islamabad needed 121 off 10 overs and got there with four balls to spare.
Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim: "I think 200 is a very good score but Azam played very well and he took the game away from us. Our bowling for the last five or six games has not been happening. Sometimes you have to give credit to other batsmen. Azam played really well and hit it all around the ground. But the death bowling needed to be better. We just have to sit and talk again. We didn't execute our plans. I'm upset and sad but this is cricket. Life goes on."
Azhar Mahmood, head coach Islamabad United: "Absolutely brilliant knock from Azam Khan. He didn't hit a boundary for four overs but he waited to get his chances and picked the right balls. Our fielding was really good and I'm really proud of the guys. Hasan Ali with that effort on the boundary, efforts like that can win you games. [On Azam] He's a phenomenal talent. It's the game awareness. Management, we always give him confidence in this dressing room and he's well looked after. But it doesn't matter how much confidence you give someone, you have to go and prove it on the pitch. Back-to-back games he's performed really well for us. We said at the innings break, give yourselves a chance. The last few games, we didn't give ourselves a chance. We spent a couple of hours having a meeting with the boys and I think they responded really well to that. On a pitch like this, the ball flies so it can be tough to restrict under 200 but when we came off, the boys felt like it was a par score. I'm really proud of the team."
Hadi: "Imad must now be feeling what being in the shoes of Babar Azam feels like. Being captain, almost performing single handedly and keep losing. "
Unsurprisingly, Azam Khan is named Player of the Match: "It's all about practice and whenever I play back in Karachi in club games, I try to stay calm there and it helps keep me calm in the professional games as well. [On the partnership with Faheem] I told him to give me singles to put me on strike for Tabraiz and I can take him down."
Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan: "It was a typical Pindi pitch and it's very hard to contain on these pitches but I had no doubt knowing the caliber of our players. [On Azam Khan] Our dressing room always stayed calm because you can't control from the outside. Azam is in great form, especially against the spin bowlers. After the strategic timeout, he said, 'I will try to kill him in this over.' And he went out and did it. We wanted to play fearless cricket. You can have failure as well but we accept failures. We can get all out for 90 but you have to play smart with a fearless approach and we will play like that. [On sending Faheem in ahead of Shadab] I play spin well, but we wanted a left-hander there and he has been in good form."
That's it for today's match coverage. Come back tomorrow for more PSL action. Until then, I'm Peter Della Penna. Take care!
Azam bows to Asif in praise of that shot.
what a way to get off the mark! Full on the stumps, whipped away high and deep over midwicket.
Asif Ali will arrive on strike.
short and wide, slices this over backward point for what should be two. Azam wants the strike but perhaps forgot it's the last ball of the over as Faheem was busting it for two. Azam turns for two late, then changes his mind with Faheem nearly back at the striker's end. Faheem wisely and unselfishly sacrifices himself as the throw comes to the keeper but Rossington still has plenty of time to underhand to Tye who calmly takes the bails off at the bowler's end.
wide yorker, plays over the top of this on seventh stump through to the keeper.
full and wide, sliced away through cover, sliding stop on the rope saves two.
knee high full toss on the legs, flicked with nonchalance over the deep backward square leg rope into the crowd.
Shoaib is back on his feet after a lengthy delay.
dropped! And a collision between Shoaib and Wade running across each other from long-on and long-off! Low full toss on fourth stump, skies this drive over mid-off. Wade was running backward from the ring at mid-off, Shoaib running to his right from long-on. Wade gets fingertips to this and Shoaib pulled out too late. Wade's body was going to the turf and his head takes out Shoaib's knees. Shoaib is still down on the ground and needs medical attention.
full and wide yorker, plays over the top of this.
Tye to bowl the 19th.
full on leg stump, backs away from leg stump and flays this high and wide over backward point to the rope.
low full toss wide outside off, goes to heave and misses.
wide yorker outside off stump, left alone and wide called.
length ball on the stumps, skies a pull over midwicket and it lands in no man's land for one.
yorker full near leg stump, misses a flick and another huge lbw shout is denied. Amir is desperate for a review oblivious to the fact that he already wasted both himself. But regardless it pitched three inches outside leg stump.
wide yorker sprayed outside off, left alone and wide called.
yorker on middle and off, Azam plays an extremely awkward shot across the line and it sounded like two noises, possible inside edge onto the pad rather than pad on pad. Otherwise it looked very tight in front of the stumps. Michael Gough gives the lbw shout not out. Amir has convinced Imad into using their last review. There was no bat on this, but Azam shuffled outside off stump, the ball hit him outside off and was missing off stump by some distance. Amir has burned both reviews.
Amir with more wincing and stretching after his first ball of the over.
bouncer over the stumps, beats Azam's pull.
Amir back for his final over.
Just 31 needed off 18 now. Karachi Kings already slim playoff chances entering today are now on very thin ice. Long chat between Imad, Shoaib, Wade and Aamer.
wide yorker, jammed out through the off side for one.
length ball on the legs, pulled to deep backward square leg and beats the boundary rider to the rope. Century partnership comes up off 61 balls.
length ball passes a foot outside the guidelines, wide called. Azam shuffled across off stump but not far enough to be within range to still be able to play a shot.
bouncer on fifth stump, Azam misses a pull and wants to know why no wide is called.
1W | ||||
1W |
1W | ||||
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | |
Toss | Karachi Kings, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2022/23 |
Player Of The Match | |
Match days | 03 March 2023 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | Islamabad United 2, Karachi Kings 0 |
Over 20 • IU 204/4
United won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)