Shadab shines with all-round display as Islamabad United thrash Karachi Kings

Islamabad United continued their dominant run in PSL 2025 with a commanding seven-wicket win over Karachi Kings, reinforcing their status as the team to beat this season. Defying the recent trend of teams struggling to chase, United chose to bowl first and executed their plan to perfection, restricting the Kings to just 128 before comfortably chasing it down with three overs to spare.

Shadab Khan was the standout performer once again, delivering an all-round masterclass. With the ball, he took 2 for 17 in his four overs, tightening the screws in the middle phase. With the bat, he calmly guided the chase, scoring a composed 47 off 40 balls to steer United home.

Despite a tournament pattern where teams batting first have dominated—winning each of the last six matches—United opted to chase after winning the toss. Naseem Shah struck early, removing David Warner with a clever slower ball, and Jason Holder followed up by knocking back James Vince’s off stump.

Karachi struggled to gain momentum, crawling to 29 in the first five overs. United’s spin duo—Shadab and Imad Wasim—were clinical, giving away just 34 runs and claiming three wickets in their combined eight overs. Among the top seven, only Saad Baig managed to score above a run a ball, hitting 20 off 17.

It was only thanks to a late burst from Abbas Afridi that the Kings avoided complete collapse. He hammered 24 off just nine balls, including two sixes off Naseem, to push the total past 120.

But against a versatile United side, it never felt like enough. Sahibzada Farhan’s dream season rolled on with a quickfire 30 off 18 that broke the back of the chase early. Azam Khan, promoted to open, played a more restrained role, anchoring the innings as required.

Hasan Ali sparked brief hope with a two-wicket over that removed both Farhan and Colin Munro, but United regrouped quickly. Shadab and Azam combined for a steady 65-run stand off 52 balls, expertly defusing any pressure. Though Shadab fell just short of a fifty with scores level—clean bowled by Afridi—his relaxed smile as he walked off said it all. United sealed the win the very next ball, making it four wins from four.

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