The English players of Chennai Braves turned in a good hand at the Zayed Cricket Stadium as the local outfit Team Abu Dhabi fell short by four runs in their opening match of the seventh Abu Dhabi T10 on Wednesday.
Jason Roy went on a rampage with the bat for a 39-ball unbeaten knock of 84 runs, before fast bowler Sam Cook pulled in the reins with a spell of two overs for 14 runs and one wicket in a low-scoring game.
Chennai Braves scored 115 for 4 riding on Roy’s knock which included seven sixes and six boundaries. Considering that the best economical bowler across both sides was Noor Ahmad of TAD, giving away only nine runs in his two overs, that scored looked an achievement for the bowling side.
In reply, Leus du Plooy, a 28-year-old England county player, hit an unbeaten 47 and a quick 20 not out from Colin Ingram saw Team Abu Dhabi close to victory. But Cook ensured victory for the Chennai side.
Earlier, Delhi Bulls displayed their batting strength to overcome Deccan Gladiators’ challenging score of 120 for 2 in 10 overs to win the first match of Day 2 by nine wickets and nine balls to spare.
The architects of Delhi’s victory included Quinton De Kock, who carried his form from the ICC Cricket World Cup, to remain unbeaten on 50 off 26 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. He put on 73 runs opening partnership with Johnson Charles, who smashed 36 off 13 balls with five boundaries and two sixes. Skipper Rovman Powell chipped in with 31 runs off 12 balls with five boundaries and a six.
Deccan Gladiators’ 120 for 2 in ten overs was carved out of Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s another fine knock.
Fresh from his match winning unbeaten 68 runs in the opening match against New York Strikers, he hit 42 off 21 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.
But Kohler-Cadmore and his teammates’ efforts went in vain as Delhi started the chase on the right note. Once 32 runs came off the first two overs, the collective might of the batsmen made it a breeze.
Yet, the most dominant batting display was yet to come. In the third match, New York Strikers batsmen smashed it out of the park to beat Bangla Tigers with 14 balls to spare.
The Strikers restricted Bangla Tigers to 101 for 7 in 10 overs and recorded an impressive eight-wicket win in the fifth match of the tournament.
Kusal Perera’s unbeaten 50 and Mohammad Waseem’s 41 then helped Strikers get back on track having lost the opening match to Deccan Gladiators.
Chamika Karunaratne bowled a fine spell of 3 for 22 for the winners with backing from Muhammad Jawadullah (2 for 21) to check Bangla Tigers’ run flow.
For the latter, Jordan Cox top scored with 38 runs from 17 balls with six boundaries and a six.
