Kieron Pollard produced an astonishing finish for the New York Strikers, who pulled off two miraculous run chases in two consecutive days.
After chasing the biggest total of the 2022 edition last game against Northern Warriors, (144 target), skipper Pollard had a huge task cut out coming in to bat in the last two overs. The challenge did not faze him and he helped the Strikers win by seven wickets.
Pollard – cool as a cucumber
With 20 runs required off the last over, tensions were rising in the dressing room but Pollard kept his composure. He was up against one of his oldest T20 companions, Dwayne Bravo, and emerged victorious.
After smashing two sixes towards mid-wicket and long-on, respectively, Pollard thumped Bravo to another couple of boundaries to finish the game in just four deliveries. Azam Khan (37 in 22 balls) made a noteworthy contribution in the run chase for the Strikers.
Earlier in the match, Tom Banton starred for the Delhi Bulls with a 23-ball 46. Tim David contributed a valuable cameo (23 in 10 balls) as well, which took the Bulls to 112/6 in 10 overs.
With five wins in six games, Strikers are through to the next stage in their first outing at the Abu Dhabi T10.
Bowlers drive Team Abu Dhabi into the semi-finals
For the second day running, Team Abu Dhabi produced a stellar bowling performance to emerge victorious and with Thursday’s win over Bangla Tigers, they are now through to the semi-finals.
The Tigers never got going batting first and some terrific economic spells from Adil Rashid (2/8 in two overs), Fabian Allen (2/10 in two overs) and Andrew Tye (1/12 in two overs) restricted them to just 74/5.
Chris Lynn once again expertly took his side home without a hiccup, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 17 balls. He was named player of the match, as Abu Dhabi won the contest by seven wickets and three overs to spare.
Killer Miller powers Samp Army into semis
Morrisville Samp Army confirmed the last semi-final berth by defeating Deccan Gladiators in their penultimate match of the league stage.
Johnson Charles brought up his second fifty of the tournament for the Samp Army and remained unbeaten on 58 off 28 balls. But David Miller was the star of the innings, who chipped in with an explosive finish, scoring 35 in 13 balls at a strike rate of 269.23. They posted 126/2 batting first, their highest total of ADT10 Season 6.
Gladiators lost their in-form skipper Nicholas Pooran in the first over, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore (41 off 26 balls) and Odean Smith (27 off 12 balls) kept them alive. Eventually, the Gladiators fell 19 runs short of Morrisville’s total, but will get a day’s rest before the semi-finals.
