Islamabad United pipped Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine points table after bagging a comprehensive seven-wicket win at the National Bank Arena.
After beating Lahore Qalandars in the opening match of the tournament, Islamabad lost three games consecutively. With this win, they have now two wins in five matches played.
Islamabad are now at fourth on the points table with Karachi demoting to fifth. Multan Sultans are at the top with five wins while defending champions Lahore are at the bottom with no wins.
The credit for Islamabad's victory goes to the opening pair of Colin Munro and Alex Hales, who completely obliterated Karachi's bowling attack. The pair added 108 off 69 balls for the first wicket.
Hales scored 35-ball 47 where he smacked seven fours with a strike rate of 134.3. Munro was in demolition mode, scoring 47-ball 82 which included four sixes and eight fours.
Karachi tried to pull things back by bowling economical overs but Islamabad steadily chased down the target in the 19th over courtesy of Agha Salman (25*) and Shadab Khan (10*).
For Karachi, Hasan Ali, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mohammad Nawaz shared a wicket each.
Earlier, Kieron Pollard and Mohammad Irfan Khan staged a recovery for Karachi Kings, propelling them to a formidable total. After being put into bat first, the Kings posted 165/5 on the scoreboard, thanks to an undefeated partnership for the sixth wicket between Pollard and Irfan.
The hosts were struggling at 89/5 in 13.1 overs but Pollard brought Kings back with an undefeated 28-ball 48, which included two boundaries and a six. Irfan, in a supportive role, contributed 27 not out of 22 deliveries, with four boundaries.
For the United, Imad, Naseem Shah, Agha Salman and Hunain Shah made one scalp each.
Karachi Kings will now play Quetta Gladiators on February 29 at the same venue.
