Islamabad/Dubai, March 19 (TNS): Karachi Kings faced annihilation as Islamabad United thrashed them by 8 wickets and chased the target within 12.3 overs to book their place in the finals on Sunday at the Dubai International cricket stadium.
Veteran captain Misbah-Ul-Haq suffered a hairline fracture in the previous encounter due to which JP Duminy had to lead his side in the play-off.
Kings Captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat first as first-choice captain Imad Wasim failed to recover for the intriguing contest.
Swashbuckling, New-Zealand wicket-keeper batsman Luke Ronchi inspired Islamabad United in the run-chase with a blistering innings as he smashed the Kings’ bowlers all over the park in his splendid innings of 94 runs off just 39 deliveries.
The 1st play-off culminated in a one-way traffic, as Karachi dropped three dolly catches during the run-chase.
Earlier in the innings Karachi Kings posted a competitive total of 154 at the loss of four wickets.
Colin Ingram played a flamboyant innings of 68 not out and played a vital role in re-building the innings as his side succumbed to 46-3 at the initial stages.
He constructed an 82 run partnership with Joe Denly who also made a solid fifty in the process.
One of the most magnificent knocks of the season was witnessed in the second innings by Luke Ronchi who is now the top run-getter in the tournament and holds the prestigious Hanif Mohammad cap.
Luke Ronchi stated at the Presentation ceremony as he grabbed the Man of the Match award, “One of the days when everything clicked for me. Couple of dropped catches everything was in my favour. The rest coming ahead will be good for us before the final.”
Beaming Islamabad captain was delighted with his team’s performance as he said, “I never thought it was going to be this easy a run-chase. Ronchi’s innings was in the top three innings I’ve ever seen.Looking forward to the final in Karachi.”
Kings skipper Eoin Morgan looked frustrated by his side’s performance but praised Ronchi’s flabbergasting knock: “When you run into a guy with Ronchi’s form then he’s very hard to stop. Tough for us, we weren’t on the mark today. Not sure why the catches went down it wasn’t too dewy either.
Islamabad will encounter the winner of the two eliminators in the epic finale taking place in National Cricket Stadium Karachi on Sunday….The whole nation awaits the next finalist.
