Asif, Salt power United to victory over Kings

Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by five wickets, during the ongoing HBL PSL in Dubai.

Kings posted 168-8 in their allotted 20 overs, after United won the toss and elected to field first.

At one stage it seemed Kings would post a total around 200 runs, especially when Liam Livingstone and Babar Azam combined to form a partnership of 78 runs.

Azam scored 68 off 50 balls while Livingstone took 31 balls for his 56-run knock.

But United bowlers made a fine comeback in the death overs to restrict Karachi to a manageable total.

Left-arm pacer Rumman Raees was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-27.

In response, Islamabad United did not get off to a stable start as they lost three wickets for just 47 runs on the board. 

But at this point Phil Salt and Asif Ali joined hands to form a brilliant 93-run partnership to get their team near the finishing line.

Ali scored 70 runs off just 38 balls with the help of five boundaries and half a dozen sixes.

Salt scored 46 off 38 balls. 

Although Salt and Ali departed in quick succession but captain Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf knocked off the remaining runs with relative ease.