Shadab's all-round stocks rise as Islamabad United pummel Karachi Kings

Islamabad United kept their stranglehold on PSL 2025, swatting aside Karachi Kings and romping to a seven-wicket victory on Sunday night. Bucking the trend of sides struggling to chase, United inserted Kings and kept their batters in a vice-like grip with regular wickets. Shadab Khan led the way with both ball and bat, taking 2 for 17 in his four before steering the chase with a composed 40-ball 47. It meant United made short work of Kings' 128, winning with three overs to spare.

United flew in the face of recent history; the last six matches this tournament have seen the side batting first win with ease. Upon winning the toss, they put Kings in, and Naseem Shah wasted no time cleaning up David Warner with a slower delivery that cut in. He was followed up by Jason Holder, the tournament's lead wicket-taker, seaming one away to rock James Vince's off stump.

United's bowling quality prevented Kings from getting off to the kind of powerplay start teams commonly have this season. The first five overs produced just 29 runs, with Shadab and Imad Wasim posing further difficulties after the powerplay. The two spinners combined for three wickets and conceded just 34 in eight overs, with Saad Baig's 17-ball 20 the only instance of a top-seven batter succeeding in scoring at over a run-a-ball.

It was only in the final two overs that Kings truly cut loose. Abbas Afridi smashed Naseem for a pair of sixes and flew to an unbeaten 24 off the nine balls he faced, helping Kings get past 120.

It never looked enough for a United side so adroit at working their way through low targets and storming to big wins. Sahibzada Farhan's dream season continued as a cameo broke the back of the chase early on, his 30 off 18 enough to guarantee the required rate would not pose problems for his side. Azam Khan, opening alongside Farhan, was uncharacteristically subdued, but in a chase that only required him to anchor, he did just that.

Hasan Ali's two-wicket over, which got rid of Farhan and Colin Munro, offered a brief moment of optimism for his side, but just as United did on the opening day chasing a low total, they hunkered down and made sure they weren't giving wickets away cheaply.

Shadab and Azam combined for 65 in 52 balls to take the sting out of Kings' attack, a masterclass in drawing jeopardy out of a modest T20 chase. With the scores level and Shadab three away from a half-century, Afridi knocked his middle stump back, but the rueful smile he exchanged with Shadab made clear who really had the upper hand. The winning run was knocked off the following delivery to confirm United's fourth win in as many games.