Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has questioned Islamabad United for not utilizing their resources properly and cited pacer Naseem Shah in the ongoing ninth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
United won two games out of five played and there were gaps in their tactics that cost them games.
During the match against Karachi Kings on Wednesday, United tried to restrict the Kings but managed to easily score 164 on a slow pitch. While Imad Wasim bowled his complete overs, captain Shadab Khan and Agha Salman did not.
“They are not using their resources properly in the bowling department. They don’t know where and how to use Naseem. They have given the last slot to a youngster [Hunain Shah] who has suited up a lot,” Misbah said on a local sports channel.
“Spinners don’t bowl their overs completely on the pitch where it helps them,” he added.
Misbah pointed out that these decisions can come back to haunt them at important moments.
“At one stage it looked 140 par but they still managed to score 165 which was covered by their openers in the batting but these things can haunt Islamabad United in important matches,” he claimed.
It must be noted that the credit for Islamabad’s victory goes to the opening pair of Colin Munro and Alex Hales, who completely obliterated the Karachi bowling attack. The pair added 108 off 69 balls for the first wicket.
Hales scored a 35-ball 47 where he hit seven fours at a strike rate of 134.3. Munro was in demolition mode, scoring a 47-ball 82 that included four sixes and eight fours.
Karachi looked to push things back by bowling economic overs, but Islamabad kept chasing the target in the 19th over courtesy of Agha Salman (25) and Shadab Khan (10).
For Karachi, Hasan Ali, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mohammad Nawaz shared a wicket.
Meanwhile, Kieron Pollard and Mohammad Irfan Khan staged the Karachi Kings’ recovery and propelled them to an impressive total. After being put into bat first, the Kings posted 165/5 on the scoreboard thanks to an unbeaten sixth wicket partnership between Pollard and Irfan.
The home side were struggling at 89/5 in 13.1 overs, but Pollard brought the Kings back with an unbeaten 28-ball 48 that included two boundaries and a six. In a supporting role, Irfan contributed 27 not out from 22 deliveries with four boundaries.
