Karachi Kings were dealt their third 2019 Pakistan Super League loss on the bounce as Islamabad United emerged victorious by seven wickets at Sharjah on Saturday.

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf and opening batsman Luke Ronchi were the chief architects as defending champions Islamabad notched up a comfortable win with 23 balls to spare.

Set a target of 144 to win, Islamabad United’s chase started poorly with Cameron Delport run-out for a duck by a Colin Munro direct hit.

However, Luke Ronchi and Sahibzada Farhan were in a punishing mood as Islamabad racked up 61 runs in the powerplay. Ronchi was the primary aggressor of the two with the Kiwi veteran smashing three boundaries and two sixes off the first 10 deliveries he faced.

Ronchi brought up a 22-ball half-century before Farhan and Hussain Talat were dismissed off consecutive deliveries by Imad Wasim.

However, the joy for Karachi was short-lived with Samit Patel coming out firing on all cylinders. The Englishman slammed an unbeaten 45 off just 30 deliveries before finishing the chase with a boundary while Ronchi remained unbeaten on 67 (35).

Earlier, Islamabad opted to rest Mohammad Sami following his hat-trick on Friday but the skipper’s absence was barely felt as Karachi’s batsmen were made to struggle.

Colin Munro’s PSL campaign got off to the worst possible start with the Kiwi opener falling for a golden duck to Rumman Raees. Islamabad youngster Muhammad Musa then further vindicated Shadab Khan’s decision to bowl first at Sharjah by having Awais Zia caught at short fine-leg before Colin Ingram miscued a pull off Faheem Ashraf to compound Karachi’s woes.

The Kings demoted Liam Livingstone down the order but that move failed to pay off with the Englishman guiding a Faheem delivery onto his stumps after a scratchy 22 (31). Karachi skipper Imad Wasim fell to Faheem in the same fashion off the very next delivery before Aamer Yamin safely negotiated the hat-trick ball.

Islamabad were well on top at that stage before some fine lower-order hitting from Ben Dunk and Aamer Yamin helped Karachi mount a fightback in the death overs.

Both the batsmen struck two sixes each as they shared an unbeaten 69-run stand for the seventh wicket. Dunk collected 49 runs off 32 deliveries while Yamin struck 35 from 19 as Karachi managed to fight their way to a challenging 143-6.

BRIEF SCORES

Karachi Kings: 143-6

Ben Dunk: 49 not out (32)

Faheem Ashraf: 3-26

Islamabad United: 147-3

Luke Ronchi: 67 not out (35)

Samit Patel: 45 not out (30)