The final matchday of Abu Dhabi T10 season 5’s league phase saw the Bangla Tigers and Delhi Bulls pick up wins.
The first match of the day saw Bangla Tigers ride a Hazratullah Zazai half-century to beat Northern Warriors by 30 runs.
In the second match of the night, a hat-trick by Adil Rashid helped Delhi Bulls beat Team Abu Dhabi by 49 runs and finish second in the league table. The result earned the Bulls a spot in Qualifier 1.
Hazratullah Zazai half-century wins it for Bangla Tigers | Full Scorecard
Sent into bat by Northern Warriors captain Rovman Powell, Bangla Tigers lost opener Johnson Charles in the third over of the match, after the West Indian wicketkeeper was caught plumb leg before wicket by Imran Tahir.
The wicket, however, proved to be the reigning champions Northern Warriors’ only joy of the innings.
Bangla Tigers captain Faf du Plessis joined opener Hazratullah Zazai on the crease and established an unbeaten 94-run partnership to lead the Bangla Tigers to a total of 119/1 in their allotted 10 overs.
Zazai took the lion’s share of the strike to score a fantastic unbeaten 55 off 31 balls while the experience du Plessis played the perfect support with a 38 off 20 deliveries. This was Zazai’s second half-century of the season.
In response, Northern Warriors lost both their openers – Kennar Lewis and Moeen Ali – with just eight runs up on the board. Their chase never recovered from the double blow as Samit Patel, Powell and Ross Whiteley fell cheaply as well.
Umair Ali (39* off 16 balls) put up a late resistance but it was only enough to take his team to a total of 89/6 in their 10 overs.
Brief Scores: Bangla Tigers 119/1 (Hazratullah Zazai 55*, Imran Tahir 1-29) beat Northern Warriors 89/6 (Umair Ali 39*, Tom Hartley 2-12)
Adil Rashid hat-trick topples Team Abu Dhabi | Full Scorecard
Team Abu Dhabi skipper Liam Livingstone won the toss and elected to bowl.
Sheldon Cottrell sent back Delhi Bulls opener Chandrapaul Hemraj in the very first over but Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sherfane Rutherford took centre stage and scored half-centuries each.
Gurbaz was the star of the show with a 29-ball 69 while Rutherford hit 52 off 22 deliveries. The two put up a 115-run partnership before Rutherford was run out. The dismissal dampened the Bulls’ innings a bit as Team Abu Dhabi picked up a few quick wickets to restrict them to 135/5 in 10 overs.
After Team Abu Dhabi opener Paul Stirling was sent back to the pavilion early, Philip Salt and captain Liam Livingstone put up a 34-run partnership to stabilise the innings. Shiraz Ahmed finally got the Bulls the all-important breakthrough, removing Salt.
Spinner Adil Rashid turned the match in the fifth over, picking up Livingstone, Colin Ingram and Jamie Overton in successive deliveries to claim a hat-trick.
Reduced to 59/5, the Team Abu Dhabi crumbled and ended their innings at 86/8 in their 10 overs.
The loss denied Team Abu Dhabi a chance to leapfrog Deccan Gladiators and finish at the top of the table after the league phase.
Courtesy the margin of the win, Delhi Bulls also managed to take over the second spot on the table from their opponents on the day. The shuffle in the standings means Deccan Gladiators and Delhi Bulls will face off in Qualifier 1, with the winner of the match making it directly to the final.
Third-placed Team Abu Dhabi and fourth-placed Bangla Tigers, meanwhile, will play the Eliminator.
Brief Scores: Delhi Bulls 135/5 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 69, Sheldon Cottrell 1-20) beat Team Abu Dhabi 86/8 (Liam Livingstone 29, Adil Rashid 3/15)
