KK vs IU: Unfortunate Kings eye maiden win after four consecutive losses

KARACHI: Karachi Kings, weary of four consecutive losses in the ongoing season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), will be desperately looking to claim their maiden victory in this edition of the tournament in today's (Sunday) match at National Stadium, Karachi.

The Kings, who are in dire straits, will take on Islamabad United in their fifth-round fixture of the PSL 2022 when the match starts at 7:30pm.

After being trounced thrice since the start of the tournament, the team lost their fourth match as well, which was a close game against Peshawar Zalmi who beat Kings by just nine runs on Friday.

Kings' skipper Babar Azam scored an unbeaten 90 in a sensational inning but it went in vain as young pacer Salman Irshad conceded two runs in the 15th and six in the 17th over which weighed down the Kings.

Off the final over, Kings required 29 to win but they scored 19 and thus failed to break the winless run.

The Kings will need to raise their game. Babar and Sharjeel Khan will need to give a strong opening stand with a decent strike rate. Their wicket-keeper batsman Joe Clarke is injured. Ian Cockbain, who replaced Clarke in the previous game, batted really well. Mohammad Nabi has been unable to play any decent innings for Kings in this tournament so far. The Afghanistan all-rounder will have to play his role with the blade if Kings are to open their account.

The Kings also lack depth in bowling. They have Umaid Asif, Lewis Gregory, Imad Wasim, Aamer Yamin, Nabi and Mohammad Imran Junior. They can include Usman Shinwari who has been included in place of injured Mohammad Ilyas who has been ruled out of the event along with seasoned left-armer Mohammad Amir.

The Kings were beaten by Multan Sultans in their first game by seven wickets. They then were downed by Quetta Gladiators by eight wickets before they lost to Lahore Qalandars by six wickets.

United lost a close game against Lahore Qalandars on Saturday and they also will be a bit under pressure.

United defeated Zalmi by nine wickets in their first game before losing to Multan by 20 runs. In their third game, United defeated Quetta Gladiators by 43 runs.

They have won two games from four. United are stronger both in batting and bowling. Ireland’s Paul Stirling, England’s Alex Hales, New Zealand’s Colin Munro and Shadab Khan are in top form. Azam Khan has also scored runs.

Asif Ali, who did not get ample chances, on Saturday failed to finish the game against Lahore. Asif needs to live up to the billing. They have depth in bowling carrying Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood and spinners Shadab and Mubasir Khan.

Shadab is in top form both with the bat and ball. He has not only scored two handy fifties but has also got ten wickets and leads the bowling leader-board.

So far 16 matches have been played between the two teams in the PSL with Islamabad United pocketing victories in ten matches and Kings winning six.

Here at the National Stadium, three matches have been held with United winning two and Kings winning one.

Ahsan Raza and Richard Illingworth will supervise the match while Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee.