A brilliant three wicket spell from Sheldon Cottrell and a belligerent unbeaten half century from Johnson Charles gave Samp Army their second consecutive victory in the third match of the fourth day in the Abu Dhabi T10 at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Cottrell gave his customary salute after taking a wicket to three Delhi Bulls batsmen in the first over of the match. Bulls never recovered from the blow and got restricted to 94 for 5. Samp Army was then given a quick win by Johnson Charles who hit an unbeaten 58 off 22 ball with ten boundaries and two sixes.
The third match of the day got off to a dramatic start, with Samp Army’s opening bowler Cottrell striking with the first ball of the match by having Rahkeem Cornwall caught behind. He then dismissed Rilee Rossouw and Asif Khan on consecutive deliveries but Tim David prevented Cottrell from getting a hat-trick.
Tim David began playing the aggressor’s role in the side, smashing boundaries off George Garton and Cottrell in the following overs. But Dwaine Pretorius put an end to his knock by having him caught behind. The Delhi Bulls were struggling at the halfway stage at 35/4 and needed a big finish.
The Bulls, however, struggled for runs in the next two overs as well, picking up just 13 runs in the next two overs. The first six of the innings came in the eighth over when Tom Banton hit Pretorius for a six to over mid-wicket. A staggering finish from Keemo Paul, who smashed 24 runs in the ninth over and 10 runs in the final over, helped the side get to a respectable 94/5 in 10 overs. Paul remained unbeaten on 36 off just 18 deliveries.
Chasing the score, Johnson Charles gave Samp Army a glorious start. The West Indian opener smashed Waqas Mahmood to all parts of the ground, hitting three fours and a six. Despite conceding 20 runs in the over, Mahmood finished with a wicket off the last ball, dismissing skipper Moeen Ali for a duck.
Charles continued the onslaught against Shiraz Ahmed who bowled the second over and was smashed by Charles for three consecutive boundaries and a six to take 18 runs off that over. Out of total of 38 in two overs, 37 of those were scored by Charles. The Samp Army got to the 50-mark in the fourth over, bringing the required rate down to just under 7.5.
After a couple of tidy overs, where the Bulls also dismissed George Garton, Charles and David Miller smashed 13 runs off Dwayne Bravo’s first over and followed it up with 15 runs off Waqas Mahmood in the seventh over.
David Miller hit a boundary off Shiraz Ahmed and remained unbeaten on 20 in the eight over while Charles hit the winning run off Shiraz’s fourth delivery. Cottrell was adjudged player of the match for his incredible spell of 3/10 in two overs.
Brief scores:
Delhi Bulls 94/5 in 10 overs (Tom Banton 36, Keemo Paul 36*, Sheldon Cottrell 3/10) lost to Samp Army 95/2 in 7.4 overs (Johnson Charles 58*, David Miller 20*)
Player of the Match: Sheldon Cottrell
