Northern Warriors’ captain Rovman Powell’s power-packed unbeaten 76 ensured a six-wicket win over Bangla Tigers in the first match of the fifth day in the Abu Dhabi T10. His knock came off 28 balls, including nine sixes and one four. Powell got backed by Sherfane Rutherford, who hit 22 runs.
Bangla Tigers won the toss and elected to bat. Hazratullah Zazai and Joe Clarke began the innings aggressively, scoring 16 and 15 runs off the second and third overs, respectively.
Zazai and Clarke kept hitting the long ball, scoring 13 runs per over. At the halfway stage, Bangla Tigers were 62/0, with both the openers scoring freely.
However, Mohammad Irfan provided the breakthrough in the sixth over. Joe Clarke got caught behind by wicketkeeper Kennar Lewis.
Zazai was also brilliantly yorked by Isuru Udana for 37 off 21 balls, including four fours and two sixes. The over also yielded the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed.
Evin Lewis hit Junaid Siddiqui for 13 runs in the eighth over. Parnell’s miserly over of seven runs restricted the Tigers. However, Lewis smashed 23 runs off the final over as Bangla Tigers posted a challenging 117/4 in 10 overs.
Bangla Tigers’ skipper Shakib Al Hasan struck with the third ball of the run chase, dismissing Adam Lyth. The Warriors’ skipper Rovman Powell joined opener Kennar Lewis to stabilize the innings.
Meanwhile, Shakib got Lewis out caught at long-on in the fourth over. In the fifth over, 21 runs were amassed, leaving the Warriors well-placed at 60/2 at the halfway mark.
Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford continued to pile on the runs, setting up the chase for the Northern Warriors. While Rutherford got out in the seventh over for 22 runs, Powell refused to give up, hitting two sixes off Mohammad Amir in the eighth over.
With 19 runs needed off the last 12 deliveries, Powell hit Rohan Mustafa’s first and second deliveries for sixes over long-on. Off the third ball of the final over, Powell scored a boundary to short fine leg and carried his team to the target with four balls to spare.
Brief scores: Bangla Tigers 117/4 in 10 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 37, Joe Clarke 24, Evin Lewis 38, Isuru Udana 2/21) lost to Northern Warriors 118/4 in 9.2 overs (Rovman Powell 76*, Sherfane Rutherford 22, Shakib Al Hasan 2/20) by six wickets.
Player of the Match: Rovman Powell
