PSL 2018, Match 15 Review: Ronchi goes berserk; Islamabad United register an 8-wicket win

The Kiwi opener fired on all cylinders to help Islamabad register a crucial win in context of the title chase.

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Luke Ronchi Islamabad United PSL 2018
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Luke Ronchi Islamabad United PSL 2018. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Australia-born Kiwi cricketer Luke Ronchi put on a breathtaking rendition to help Islamabad United win by 8 wickets at the Sharjah. It was the final game of the first Sharjah leg and the tournament will now be heading to Dubai once again. The Kiwi opener fired on all cylinders to help Islamabad register a crucial win in the context of the title chase. Batting first, English opener Joe Denly was dismissed in the second over of the innings, putting the Karachi Kings on the backfoot.

Khurram Manzoor and rising youngster Babar Azam took the responsibility on their shoulders to bolster their command over the innings. Both cricketers played sensible cricket and yielded some crucial runs in the middle overs.

Both these players are not well known for their aggressive intent and after one point, their scoring rate dipped a little too much. Even these well-settled batters were finding it difficult to time the ball. Khurram Manzoor had completed his half-century and the duo also brought up the 100-run stand for the second wicket.

But their partnership came to an end in the 16th over with Khurram attempting to up the ante and getting dismissed. It was a double blow for the Kings in that over as they lost in-form Colin Ingram off the final ball of the same over. Babar Azam too got dismissed just after completing a fifty and Ravi Bopara followed the suit.

Mohammad Rizwan gave the Kings a power-packed finish with some lusty blows in the final 2 overs. Imad Wasim too joined the party and struck a couple of boundaries. Eventually, they scored 153 runs losing 6 wickets. Faheem Ashraf was the pick of the bowlers for Islamabad, returning with an impressive 3/23 tally.

Luke Ronchi runs riot!

For some reason, most of the tracks laid for the PSL this season have barely assisted the batsmen and for that reason, not many big scores have been registered as yet. Most of the games have been low-scoring thrillers and although they are pretty exciting, people love to watch some big hitting extravaganza, which they finally got off the bat of Ronchi.

He opened the innings with South African senior player JP Duminy, who usually doesn’t open. But the duo did sensationally well. Duminy blocked one end with his defensive and cautious approach, whilst Ronchi kept hammering the ball to all parts of the ground. Some extremely talented fast bowlers like Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, and Tymall Mills were at the receiving end of some very harsh treatment from Ronchi.

All these bowlers conceded heavily and all the hard work from their batsmen in the first innings went to the bin. Ronchi raced to a well-deserved half-century in double quick time while Duminy hardly scored 20 runs by the time he got to his half-century. Such was the intensity of his explosion, which finally came to end in the 11th over after Ronchi fell for 71 off 37 balls, which included 10 fours and 3 sixes.

Duminy and Ronchi added 104 runs in just 10.5 overs and the game was pretty much done and dusted. It was just a formality to complete the rest and it took another 6 overs for Duminy and Talat to score the remaining 52 runs. They registered a big 6-wicket win and keeps them well on track for a place in the playoffs.

Brief Scores

Karachi Kings: 153/7 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 55, Khurram Manzoor 51; Faheem Ashraf 3/23)

Islamabad United: 156/2 in 17.2 overs (Luke Ronchi 71, JP Duminy 43*)

Player of the match: Luke Ronchi

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