The final four teams of the Abu Dhabi T10 Season 6 are all set for playoffs action. After an enthralling group stage that saw a flurry of runs and some magical spells, the battle for the title heats up at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
New York Strikers and Morrisville Samp Army, the two new franchises, finished in the top two on the ADT10 Season 6 points table. They will go up against each other in Qualifier 1, with the winner directly advancing to the final. The losing team will get another go in Qualifier 2, the winner of which makes the final.
Meanwhile, Team Abu Dhabi will play Deccan Gladiators in the Eliminator. The winner will feature in Qualifier 2, while the defeated side will face the loser of Qualifier 2 in the third-place playoff.
The Qualifiers and Eliminator are scheduled for Saturday, December 3, 2022. The final will be played on Sunday, December 4, 2022, after the third-place playoff.
Qualifier 1: New York Strikers vs Morrisville Samp Army
The Kieron Pollard-led New York Strikers come into the playoffs on the back of a six-match winning streak.
Needing to win their final group game to top the table, the Strikers’ bowlers did a fantastic job against Team Abu Dhabi on Friday, restricting them to 78/8 in 10 overs. Muhammad Waseem’s 20-ball 45 took the New York Strikers over the finish line and sealed their Qualifier 1 spot.
Morrisville Samp Army, the other new team on the block, beat Northern Warriors in their last group game to make the top two. After Adam Hose’s half-century helped the Warriors post 117/7, Shimron Hetmyer got Samp Army off to a solid start with his 45-run blitzkrieg. Chamika Karunaratne finished things off with 22 off eight.
New York Strikers and Morrisville Samp Army are the only teams to rack up double figure points this season, scoring 12 and 10, respectively.
Eliminator: Team Abu Dhabi vs Deccan Gladiators
Team Abu Dhabi and Deccan Gladiators finished third and fourth respectively, in the Season 6 points table.
After scoring only one point from their first two games, Team Abu Dhabi won four games on the bounce and a win in their final group game would have seen them make the cut for Qualifier 1. However, New York Strikers derailed Chris Lynn and Co. in the match.
Deccan Gladiators, meanwhile, suffered three losses in their last five matches after winning the first two encounters. Despite the 19-run defeat against Samp Army, the Gladiators finished fourth, courtesy of four victories in seven league matches. The Gladiators’ opening pair of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Nicholas Pooran top the ADT10 Season 6 run-scoring charts, having scored 258 and 253 runs, respectively.
