Abu Dhabi: Through a clinical display of accurate bowling and powerful hitting, Qalandars trounced Pune Devils by nine wickets in the fourth match of the Abu Dhabi T10 League at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on January 29.
The first match of the second day thus saw Qalandars exhibiting their enormous bowling strength to restrict Pune Devils to 107/2 despite Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s fine knock of 53. Qalandars then raced to the target through Tom Banton’s 45 off just 18 balls. Opener Sharjeel Khan remained unbeaten on 28 and Sohail Akhtar, through an unconquered 33, won the match with 17 balls to spare.
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UAE’s left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed, who opened the bowling for Qalandars, was hit for 10 runs in the first over. Pune took 19 runs of a Samit Patel over which included Cadmore’s two consecutive sixes. Ahmed struck in his third over by trapping Lewis leg before for three giving away just three runs.
Brief scores: Pune Devils 107/2 in 10 overs (Tom Kohler-Cadmore 54, Darwish Rasooli 39*) lost to Qalandars 108/1 in 7.1 overs (Tom Banton 45, Sharjeel Khan 28, Sohail Akhtar 33) by nine wickets.
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Delhi Bulls notched up their second successive victory by registering an emphatic nine-wicket win in just five overs over defending champions Maratha Arabians. Bulls charged to an easy victory after restricting Arabians to just 87/3.
Opener Evin Lewis hit a belligerent unbeaten 55 runs off just 16 balls with seven sixes and two boundaries. Ravi Bopara remained unbeaten on 28 runs as they won with 30 balls to spare. This win will also help Delhi Bulls boost up their run rate.
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Amad Butt bowled a tight third over giving away just six runs. In the fourth over, Arabians lost another wicket when experienced Mohammad Hafeez hit Ali Khan to Nabi at mid-wicket for 5.
At the halfway stage, Maratha were struggling for runs at 41 for 3. Skipper Mosaddek Hossain and opener Javed Ahmadi tried their best to force the pace. Hossain played a lovely straight drive to the boundary off Dwayne Bravo.
India’s veteran leg spinner Pravin Tambe was introduced in the third over but Lewis picked two successive boundaries. The partnership between Bopara and Lewis got stronger with their pair picking 15 runs off Sohag Gazi’s fourth over. Lewis hit Muktar Ali for four sixes to take 33 runs off that over and ensure Bulls’ victory in just five overs.
Brief scores: Maratha Arabians 87/4 in 10 overs (Javed Ahmadi 24, Mosaddek Hossain 35*) lost to Delhi Bulls 89/1 in 5 overs (Evin Lewis 55*, Ravi Bopara 28*) by nine wickets.
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UAE’s medium pacer Zahoor Khan and South Africa’s experienced batsman Cameron Delport steered Deccan Gladiators to a six-wicket win over Team Abu Dhabi in the third match of the day.
Zahoor Khan, through an intelligent change of pace, clean bowled Clarke for 21. Khan also had Najibullah Zadran brilliantly caught by Imran Tahir at long leg in the same over. Thus half the side was back in the dug-out for just 54 runs.
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Wright kept the scoreboard moving but got run out in the eighth over for 25 through a fine throw from Cameron Delport at long-on. Through a direct hit, Imtiaz Ahmed ran out Jamie Ovetron. Sunil Narine and Zahoor Khan gave away five and six runs respectively to also take one wicket each in the last two overs.
Skipper Kieron Pollard joined Delport and at the halfway stage Gladiators needed 48 runs. Delport began to stroke freely from the sixth over and hit McCoy for a six and a boundary to pick 17 runs off the over.
Though Mustafa clean bowled Delport for 40 in the eighth over, Gladiators needed only ten more runs to win from the last two overs. Overton removed Pollard for 24 and Azam Khan off successive balls of the last over when Gladiators needed just two runs. Sunil Narine hit the winning runs by slashing Overton to the boundary to win with two balls to spare.
Brief scores: Team Abu Dhabi 95/9 in 10 overs (Luke Wright 25, Joe Clarke 21, Imtiaz Ahmed 2/8, Zahoor Khan 3/13) lost to Deccan Gladiators 98/4 in 9.4 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 21, Cameron Delport 40, Kieron Pollard 24, Jamie Overton 3/18) by six wickets.
