Debutants Samp Army marched past Bangla Tigers through a fine display of tight bowling. Though Samp Army posted only 100 in their 10 overs, they choked runs in the last five overs, restricting Bangla Tigers to 85 to pull off a 15-run victory. South African pacer Dwaine Pretorius bowled a fine spell of 3/11 to tilt the match Samp Army’s way.
Bangla Tigers captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bowl. Shakib introduced himself for the first over against Samp Army openers skipper Moeen Ali and Johnson Charles. Moeen Ali hit Shakib’s fifth ball for a six over long-on, scoring 12 runs off the first over. Rohan Mustafa bowled the second over, conceding only six runs, including a boundary by Charles to backward point.
The third over was sensational as Benny Howell dismissed Moeen Ali for 11 on the first ball. One ball later, Howell clean bowled Johnson Charles for seven and gave away just two runs in that over.
David Miller and Shimron Hetmyer, two of the finest hard hitters, came to the crease as Matheesha Pathirana bowled a tight fourth over, giving away just six runs.
Then, Hetmyer greeted Howell’s first delivery with a six over extra cover. But Samp Army lost the prize wicket of David Miller, run out while going for a second run to a throw from Ben Cutting for three. Wickets kept falling as Pathirana forced Dwaine Pretorious to hit straight to Ben Cutting at long-on.
Meanwhile, Karim Janat got dropped by Zazai as at the end of the sixth over, Samp Army’s score read 46/4.
Jake Ball, who bowled the seventh over, was hit for a boundary by Janat and a six by Hetmyer. Samp Army still needed some big hits to set a reasonable target. Rohan Mustafa was re-introduced for the eighth over. Except for a boundary scored by Karim to mid-off, he conceded just eight runs.
Hetmyer hit the first delivery of the ninth over for a six to long-on, while Karim hit the last for a boundary. UAE’s Umair Ali, who bowled the final over, had Hetmyer caught at long off for 38.
George Garton hit the first ball he faced for a boundary. He also hit the last ball of that over towards deep mid-wicket as a dropped catch resulted in a four. Samp Army thus posted 100/5 in 10 overs.
The Bangla Tigers’ chase began with opener Hazratullah Zazai smashing Sheldon Cottrell for three boundaries. The first ball was hit towards the backward point boundary, while the third through extra cover and the fourth a pull to mid-wicket.
Zazai further hit the second ball of the second over from George Garton for a six to square leg. However, he failed to score more, courtesy of Garton’s tight bowling. In the next over, Evin Lewis turned aggressive, hitting Anrich Nortje for a boundary and a six off successive deliveries.
The 39-run opening partnership ended in the fourth over when Dwaine Pretorius had Lewis caught behind by wicketkeeper Charles for 14.
However, Zazai continued to punish Cottrell in the fifth over, smashing another six. At the halfway mark, Bangla Tigers were 50/1.
Then began some fine bowling by the Samp Army bowlers. The sixth over from Karim Janat was an excellent one giving away just seven runs. Nortje also bowled a miserly seventh over, conceding only three runs, resulting in the required run-rate rising to 13.66.
Then Pretorius bowled an economical eighth over, taking the prized wicket of Zazai, caught by Garton at sweeper cover for 35. The South African ended the over by having Joe Clarke caught behind by Charles for nine.
With 33 runs needed in the last 12 balls, Garton choked the run flow, despite Munro hitting him for a six off the first ball. With only ten runs from that over, 23 was the target for the last.
Karim Janat’s first delivery was hit for a boundary by Cutting. But he later gave only singles off the second, third and fifth delivery. Samp Army thus pulled off a debut win restricting Bangla Tigers to 85/3 in 10 overs.
Brief scores: Samp Army 100/5 in 10 overs (Shimraon Hetmyer 38, Karim Janat 22*, Benny Howell 2/17) beat Bangla Tigers 85/3 in 10 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 35, Dwaine Pretorius 3/11) by 15 runs.
Player of the Match: Dwaine Pretorius
