Brilliant Ronchi guides Islamabad into Karachi finale

By Our Correspondent

March 20, 2018

KARACHI: Karachi Kings headed to Lahore on Monday after an aging New Zealander, who was snubbed by the Indian Premier League, floored them in a one-sided Qualifier of HBL Pakistan Super League in Dubai.

The Kings were confident of beating Islamabad United to secure a place in the March 25 finale in Karachi but Luke Ronchi dealt them with a fatal blow to take his side in the title match.Karachi will now have to overcome the winner of the first eliminator to be played in Lahore on Tuesday featuring defending champions Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.

Ronchi, 36, who has emerged as the best batsman of the tournament, once again put his destructive batting on display as he 94 off just 39 balls to seal what was a comfortable eight-wicket triumph for United.

The margin of victory in terms of balls remaining (45) was the biggest in the PSL.Sahibzada Farhan, and later Alex Hales and Samit Patel provided able support, but the day was all about Ronchi.

Karachi may rue a strangely conservative batting performance. They didn’t look to attack till the 14-over mark. That was especially troubling given Eoin Morgan, who elected to bat, assessed the pitch as “excellent to bat on.” Even though Colin Ingram injected urgency with a strokeful half-century, they were well behind the par score. Seventy-three came off the last six, thanks largely to Ingram’s 29-ball 68. Yet, it never felt enough.

Islamabad were off to a flying start. Ronchi enjoys width, so Mohammad Amir tried to cramp him for room. He responded by smashing three boundaries to ruin that plan one over into the innings. He likes pace on the ball, so Shahid Afridi was summoned for the third over despite not having bowled in the Powerplay before in the tournament. He went for 14 off five balls. All this amounted to him eclipsing Umar Akmal’s previous record to bring up the tournament’s fastest half-century off 19 balls. Ronchi now holds the four fastest PSL half-centuries this year.

Once he reached fifty, he did give Karachi chances; he was dropped off consecutive balls on 56 and 57, and later by Afridi when on 74, but by then he had guided the team total past 100. It took Islamabad just 8.3 overs to get there, the quickest in PSL history. –with inputs from agencies

Karachi Kings won toss

Karachi Kings

Khurram Manzoor c & b Sami 6

J L Denly hit wicket b Faheem 51

Babar Azam c Duminy b Sami 0

*E J G Morgan c Duminy b Amad 21

C A Ingram not out 68

Shahid Afridi not out 4

Extras (lb 2, w 2) 4

Total (4 wickets; 20 Overs) 154

Did not bat: †M Rizwan, M Amir, T S Mills, Usman Khan, M Irfan(4)

Fall: 1-17, 2-17, 3-46, 4-128