(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Luke Ronchi lit up the 'Ring of Fire' to book Islamabad United's final date in Karachi, in the HBL Pakistan Super League on Sunday night.
The New Zealander whipped up a sumptuous and unbeaten 94 against the Karachi Kings in the Qualifier at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to launch the inaugural champions into the final.
Ronchi made hay, after earning three reprieves, to make a mockery of the Karachi Kings total. It was the Ronchi show all the way as the Karachi Kings had no answer to his onslaught.
Ronchi's pyrotechnics, which was showered with 12 boundaries and five sixes from 39 balls, meant Islamabad United wrapped up the chase of 155 in 12.3 overs.
Such was his fury that Ronchi lowered his own benchmark of fastest 50s with this one coming from just 19 balls.
Ronchi holds the record for the three fastest 50s, with the other two coming in 22 and 23 deliveries against the Lahore Qalandars and the Karachi Kings.
Ronchi also perched himself on top of the top runs scorers with 378 runs from 10 fixtures. He would have a chance to swell that in Karachi with the Islamabad United awaiting to know who their opponents will be.
Ronchi's top scores so far have been 77 against the Lahore Qalandars, 71 against the Karachi Kings and 58 against the Multan Sultans.
The Karachi Kings still have a chance to make the final as they will take on the winner of the Eliminator between Peshawar Zalmi and the Quetta Gladiators.
Earlier, the Karachi Kings overcame early hiccups to post 154 for the loss of four wickets after opting take first strike.
But that total would prove to be too little as Islamabad United went on to show. It was quite literally a walk in the park for Islamabad United opener Luke Ronchi, who made the most of the generous butter-fingered Karachi Kings fielders.
The Karachi Kings were in a bit of a quagmire after that wily old fox Mohammad Sami waltzed back into the line-up after a well-deserved rest, to polish off opener Khurram Manzoor for six and Babar Azam for nought.
Captain Eoin Morgan walked into and joined countryman Joe Denly in fire-fighting exercise. The pair put on 29 runs for the third wicket after the Karachi Kings had found themselves on 17 for two following Sami's twin strikes in the fourth over.
But the Karachi Kings were not out of the woods yet as Morgan was undone by medium pacer Amad Butt and was caught by stand-in captain JP Duminy.
Duminy was handed the captain's reins after Misbah
Haq had to sit out. But it was to be Colin Ingram, who pulled them out of the deep hole that they had found themselves in. The South African left-hander conjured an unbeaten 68 from 39 balls with a whopping half a dozen sixes and one boundary.
He and Denly added a crucial 82 runs for the fourth wicket to give some semblance of respect to the Karachi Kings total. Sami finished up with two wickets for 20 in his four overs.
Brief scores: Karachi Kings: 154 for 4 in 20 overs (Colin Ingram 68 not out, Joe Denly 51, Eoin Morgan 21, Mohammad Sami 2-20) lost to Islamabad United: 155 for 2 in 12.3 overs (Luke Ronchi 94 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 29) by 8 wickets.
MENAFN2003201800490000ID1096622212
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.