Karachi Kings 126 (Raees 4-25) beat Islamabad United 82 (Imad 3-18, Mir 3-24) by 44 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
In a nutshell
For a team that won the title last year by playing their best cricket when it really mattered, this was the meekest of surrenders in the biggest of games. Islamabad United whimpered out of the tournament, failing in a chase of 127 and handing the record for the lowest total successfully defended at the PSL to Karachi Kings.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s men put in a lion-hearted bowling performance, but were quite timid with the bat. On a slow and low pitch where strokeplay wasn’t entirely easy, they slipped further into their shell after a couple of early wickets, including another stunning diving catch from Kumar Sangakarra behind the wicket. The attempts to consolidate in the middle overs was unconvincing, the response to unerringly accurate bowling from spinners Imad Wasim and Usama Mir was ugly, and the chastening defeat to end the defending champions’ campaign was inevitable.
To think they had begun the match with back-to-back maidens. Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan bowled to their strengths early on, keeping the length short and beating the batsmen for pace and bounce. No Karachi player could muster any sort of meaningful contribution. Left-arm quick Rumman Raees took three wickets in a sensational 19th over as Karachi collapsed from 122 for 5 to 126 all out.
More to follow
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000
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