Babar Azam led Karachi Kings to the first win of PSL 2 in rain-affected match with 47* off 30 balls.

By Abdullah Ansari (17th February, 2017)

Islamabad United Team

Dwayne Smith, Sam Billings, Brad Haddin, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Shane Watson, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imran Khalid, Mohammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan.

Karachi Kings Team

Babar Azam, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara*, Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara, Kieron Pollard, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Usama Mir, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan Shinwari.

After a delayed start due to rain and a wet outfield, Sangakkara won the toss and opted to field - every captain to have won the toss so far has opted for that. Imad struck straight away on his second ball to get Billings, then had Haddin caught and bowled in his next over. Smith and Misbah formed a partnership though the latter was very slow to get going. Smith fell for 29 to Usama Mir as he tried to pull one and top edged it for a simple catch while Misbah also fell to the wily leg-spinner, getting caught. Watson provided a boost to the innings with two sixes off Amir but the shortened innings finished with a barrage of run outs as Islamabad ended at 90/8 in 13 overs.

Karachi's chase began feebly as Gayle perished cheaply yet again, caught at third man off Irfan while the tall fast bowler got Sangakkara with a superb yorker. In between, Babar helped to take 18 off Sami's over with a few breathtaking boundaries. Babar continued on his way, taking 14 off Shadab's over but couldn't get much assistance from the other end as Malik was caught off Imran Khalid's bowling. Bopara was run out cheaply as well but Imad and Babar batted through until another rain delay; Karachi were 75/4 at the time and they were eventual winners as the match couldn't resume - the DLS par score was 67, so the Kings won by 8 runs with Babar on 47* off 30 balls.

Next match: Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators

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