Bowlers, openers give Islamabad United dominant win

Karachi Kings suffered their third straight loss in PSL 2026 after Islamabad United secured a dominant win on Thursday (April 16). Kings, who suffered a batting collapse last week against Peshawar Zalmi, made only 150/6, with United hunting down the target with ease to win with four overs to spare.

Reeza Hendricks and Jason Roy attempted to revive a floundering Powerplay with a few boundaries, but Shadab Khan applied the brakes on the scoring rate with two wickets in two overs. First, he dismissed Roy before adding to Salman Agha's woes in the tournament. Apart from Imad Wasim, the rest of the United bowlers were effective, keeping the runs in check while taking timely wickets.

Well set at 106/3 with six overs to go, Kings would have felt 170 was within reach. Azam Khan kickstarted the 15th over with successive boundaries to give Kings some momentum. However, Richard Gleeson and Faheem Ashraf tied down the scoring in the next couple of overs, with Gleeson managing to dismiss Azam off his penultimate delivery. Hendricks reached his half-century, but with the last two overs yielding only 18 runs, Kings finished with a below-par score.

In the chase, United made a strong start with Devon Conway and Sameer Minhas each hitting a boundary in the first couple of overs. Agha's introduction early in the Powerplay did not change anything, as Minhas smashed him for three boundaries to race to 25. The outcome of the contest was effectively decided by the end of the Powerplay as the boundary spree continued. While Conway played his part, it was Minhas who dazzled, ensuring his side wiped out 67 runs by the end of the sixth over.

Kings needed a miracle from that point to storm back into the contest, but that was not the case. Minhas brought up his fifty off 29 balls. While he was stumped at the halfway point, the job was nearly done with the openers adding 93 runs. Conway and Shadab then took charge to put the game to bed. Fittingly, it was the New Zealand opener who delivered the final blow with a boundary that also brought up his half-century. The win has now propelled United to the second spot on the points table.

Brief Scores: Karachi Kings 150/6 in 20 overs (Reeza Hendricks 51*, Jason Roy 39; Richard Gleeson 2-22, Shadab Khan 2-28) lost to Islamabad United 153/2 in 16 overs (Sameer Minhas 58, Devon Conway 53*) by 8 wickets.