Captain Dwayne Bravo starred with a 17-ball 43 on Sunday to take Delhi Bulls second in the Abu Dhabi T10 points table.
The Chennai Braves put up a formidable 124/2 helped by Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s half-century.
In response, the Delhi Bulls were tottering at 51/4 in five overs when in walked the ‘champion’.
The legend smashed six fours and two sixes in a quick-fire innings, turning the momentum around and showing that the 38-year-old still had it in him.
It was a day for the chasing teams with all three victories coming from targets – of varying degrees – being chased down.
Let’s have a glance at how the second triple-header of season 5 panned out.
Team Abu Dhabi beat Gladiators in last-ball thriller | Full Scorecard
Deccan Gladiators were rocked early as Fidel Edwards prised out Tom Banton and Tom Moores – the hero of the last game – in the first over with the score on zero.
That soon became 18/5 in the fourth over as Anwar Ali, Tom Kahler-Cadmore and the big man Andre Russell were all dismissed for single-digit scores.
A 30 from Wanindu Hasaranga gave Deccan Gladiators some momentum and a blitzkrieg of 34 from 11 balls by Odean Smith took them to a respectable 97/9.
The chase turned out to be anything but easy.
Team Abu Dhabi openers Paul Stirling and Phil Salt fell cheaply and only a 10-ball 21 from skipper Liam Livingstone took them to 40 in 3 overs.
Wanindu Hasaranga then spun a web around Team Abu Dhabi, dismissing Livingstone, Colin Ingram, Chris Benjamin and Marchant de Lange to leave them struggling at 51/6 in 5.3 overs.
Jamie Overton and Danny Briggs then steadied the innings, focusing on running singles and twos with the occasional boundary. It left Team Abu Dhabi to get 14 runs off the last over.
The duo managed nine in the first five balls and with four to get off the final delivery, Danny Briggs launched Anwar Ali over the ropes to secure a nail-biter and ensure Team Abu Dhabi’s unbeaten start to the season.
Brief Scores: Deccan Gladiators 97/9 (Odean Smith 34, Fidel Edwards 2-10) lost to Team Abu Dhabi (Jamie Overton 33*, Wanindu Hasaranga 4-12)
Bravo champions Delhi Bulls’ chase | Full Scorecard
The Chennai Braves’ openers Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Mark Deyal dominated the innings, sharing an 81-run partnership in 5.4 overs before Deyal was dismissed for 29.
After skipper Dasun Shanaka fell for a first-ball duck, Ravi Bopara and Rajapaksa hit 37 runs in the last four overs, with the opener hitting an unbeaten fifty.
Delhi Bulls seemed to be in early trouble as Rilee Rossouw and Sherfane Rutherford fell with the score at 16. Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit 26 but the opener and veteran Mohammad Hafeez fell in quick succession, leaving them at 51/4 in five overs.
It was here that Bravo walked in to join Eoin Morgan in the middle.
The champion began by hitting opposite number Dasun Shanaka for 12 runs in the sixth over, followed by a 22-run over off Roman Walker – which was laced with two fours and two sixes.
Bravo hit another boundary before falling to Curtis Campher, leaving Delhi Bulls 18 runs to get off nine balls.
Eoin Morgan – who did not get much strike until then – hit a six and a four before Romario Shepherd finished things off with a boundary to chase down the target with two balls to spare.
Brief Scores: The Chennai Braves 124/2 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 64, Romario Shepherd 1-16) lost to Delhi Bulls 128/5 (Dwayne Bravo 43, Munaf Patel 2-20)
Bangla Tigers win first game in season 5 | Full Scorecard
The Bangla Tigers made a good start after defending champions Northern Warriors’ openers Gareth Delaney and Kennar Lewis left without inflicting much damage.
Moeen Ali – who had dropped down to No. 3 instead of opening – took to the position well, hitting a 12-ball 24, which laid the platform for captain Rovman Powell.
The skipper smashed four fours and six sixes in a rapid 27-ball 63, sharing an 80-run partnership with Samit Patel, with the latter contributing only 17 runs.
In response, Andre Fletcher fell early for Bangla Tigers and Hazratullah Zazai’s quick 17 gave them initial momentum.
Zazai and captain Faf du Plessis – who came in at no.4 – fell in consecutive overs and Karim Janat, sent ahead as a pinch-hitter, fulfilled his responsibility, hitting a 6-ball 16.
With Johnson Charles falling cheaply, Bangla Tigers were in a precarious situation at 58/5. Benny Howell joined No. 3 Will Jacks in the middle.
The pair unleashed on Chris Jordan and Abhimanyu Mithun – hitting a combined 41 runs in the seventh and eighth overs to shift the momentum.
A bizarre incident in the ninth over then put the match firmly in Bangla Tigers’ grip.
In the third ball, Benny Howell hit an aerial shot towards long off, where Chris Jordan spilled the catch with the batsmen running two in the meantime.
Jordan’s throw from the deep was not collected by Warriors’ keeper Kaunain Abbas and the Tigers’ ran an extra run. This time, with no one backing up at the bowlers’ end, the ball went away for four overthrows, giving the Bangla Tigers seven runs in one ball.
Will Jacks hit a six off the next ball and Benny Howell finished the job in the final over to help Bangla Tigers open their account for the season.
Brief Scores: Northern Warriors 126/4 (Rovman Powell 63, Luke Wood 1-18) lost to Bangla Tigers 130/5 (Will Jacks 57*, Umair Ali 1-9)