The Karachi Kings found out the hard way that they can’t bank on luck and generosity from their rivals all the time. Scraping into the playoffs of the Pakistan Super League with just two wins from eight matches, they finally bowed out of the tournament last night after suffering a crushing nine-wicket defeat to Islamabad United in the ‘second qualifying final’ at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
After veteran speedster Mohamed Sami had destroyed Karachi’s batting and their spirit with a sensational five-wicket haul for a miserly eight runs to restrict them to 111 for 9, Islamabad, who opted to bat second, raced to 115 for one in just 14.2 overs to underline their credentials.
Opener Sharjeel Khan fell on 9 to fast bowler Sohail Khan but West Indian Dwayne Smith (50 not out, 4x7, 6x1) and Australian Brad
Haddin (52 not out, 4x4, 6x3) stepped up the tempo after some initial caution to put together a 97-run stand to help Islamabad complete an easy victory.
However, despite the win, the Misbah-ul-Haq-led Islamabad United are still not through to the title match.  They will take on Peshawar Zalmi today in the ‘third qualifying final’ to earn the right to play the Quetta Gladiators for the inaugural honours on Feb 23.
Left-arm fast bowler Mohamed Amir acquitted himself well by giving away just 13 runs in three overs for Karachi, but had little support from the others. In any case, Karachi’s poor batting show meant the bowlers were under tremendous pressure, and it showed.
Karachi’s 2-0 head-to-head record against the Lahore Qalandars in the league phase was instrumental in giving them another shot at glory in the tournament, but the resignation of Shoaib Malik as captain just before the playoffs—Ravi Bopara was in charge for yesterday’s match—pointed to the fact that the team were suffering from leadership issues among other things, like finding the right balance.
Bopara had criticized Malik for bringing him on as a bowler only in the 18th over during Karachi’s match against Peshawar Zalmi on Wednesday and was “brutally” frank when he added that the team didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs, only to know some four hours later that they had actually made it by the proverbial whisker after the Qalandars lost to Islamabad United.
The England international thus got to captain the side in only one match and he made the most of it by top-scoring with 37 (36b, 4x1, 6x1), coming in at number five when the team were on the ropes at 29 for 3 in the sixth over after Malik completed a miserable tournament when he under-edged Mohamed Irfan and was caught behind the stumps by Brad Haddin for nought.
The Kings kept losing wickets regularly and eventually just managed to cross the three-figure mark as all the Islamabad bowlers, especially Sami, bowled excellent spells and choked the flow of runs.
The 34-year-old Sami, who has played 36 Test matches for Pakistan, was spot-on with his line and length, claiming five wickets for a miserly eight runs in his four overs.
His victims included the prize scalps of opener Ricky Wessels (1), Bopara and Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate (16) besides tailenders Imad Wasim (6) and Usama Mir (1).
Australian Haddin praised Sami’s bowling after the match, giving him most of the credit for Islamabad’s win. “We had been building up for a victory like this. Sami has been brilliant throughout the tournament and it is a just reward for all the hard work he has done. We want to get better with what we did tonight,” he said.
Brief scores
Karachi Kings 111-9 in 20 overs [L Simmons 19 (18b, 4x3, 6x1), R Bopara 37 (36b, 4x1, 6x1), R ten Doeschate 16 (23b); Mohamed Sami 5/8, A Russell    2/21] lost to Islamabad United 115-1 in 14.2 overs [D Smith 50 not out (48b, 4x7, 6x1), B Haddin 52 not out (29b, 4x4, 6x3)] by 9 wickets.