Dubai: Islamabad United opener Luke Ronchi displayed how dangerous a batsman he is in Twenty20 format through a whirlwind 74 runs off 45 balls and gift an eight-wicket win over Multan Sultans at the Lahore Gaddafi stadium on Saturday night.
The 38-year-old New Zealander destroyed Multan attack with his country man and opener Colin Munro, who cracked 50 off 32 balls. Together they put on 92 runs in 9.5 overs while chasing Multan’s total of 164 for 8 in 20 overs. Dawid Malan too chipped in with an unbeaten 35 to give Islamabad an easy win 20 balls to spare.
Put into bat by Islamabad, the batting of Multan did not take off as expected. Though James Vince scored 42 runs and wicketkeeper Zeeshan Ashraf scored 50 runs, Multan’s batting line up cracked against the accurate pace of 24-year-old pacer Amad Butt who bagged four wickets for 27 runs.
Brief scores:
Islamabad United bt Multan Sultans by 8 wkt. Multan 164 for 8 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 21, James Vince 42, Zeeshan Ashraf 50, Amad Butt 4 for 27, Faheem Ashraf 2 for 34) Islamabad 165 for 2 in 16.4 overs (Luke Ronchi 74, Colin Munro 50, Dawid Malan 35n.o) Man of the match: Luke Ronchi
