Deccan Gladiators outclassed the Morrisville Samp Army who had been impeccable throughout round-robin stage in Qualifier 1 of 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 at Zayed Cricket Stadium. This emphatic win saw the Gladiators becoming two-time champions, guaranteeing themselves a place in the final for the fourth successive year and fifth in total.
Opener and West Indies player Nicholas Pooran and England’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore played some magnificent innings for the Gladiators and set up a target of 147/2 in 10 overs. Pooran was not out on 72 off 33 with five big hits to the fence and four fours.
Kohler-Cadmore, however, scored a fifty before he was able to be got out for 51 off 24.
Morrisville Samp Army then started off the chase in a positive manner as they collected 13 runs in the very first over but Gladiators’ bowling unit quickly made a comeback as England pacer Richard Gleeson sent Charith Asalanka back in the hut for just one run in second over. This was succeeded by wickets loss in regular interval, and Samp Army got accumulated and put into backfoot to restrict at 102/5.
Most runs: Jack Taylor 25 n.o in 14, Andries Gous batting at no.7 and wicketkeeper 22 in 14 and South African star batsman Faf Dul Plessis 21 in 10.
For Gladiators, Usman Tariq, Gleeson, and David Wiese were among the wickets. In the bowling dept, Tariq bowled well again and taking 2 wickets in 19 runs in his total 2 overs he bowled and restricts the flow of runs. Gleeson and Wiese earned their wickets for the side.
Delhi Bulls in the hunt for final
Tom Banton brings up formidable England as Delhi Bulls outplay Bangalore Torch to reach the second Qualifier on Sunday at Zayed Cricket Stadium.
The right-handed batter stormed to a brilliant 26-ball 73 while playing for Team Abu Dhabi in the second Eliminator and hitting nine sixes.
Rovman Powell from Delhi thundered an unbeaten 20 from 6 to score the season’s highest total of 158/3 in 10 overs, setting up a challenging target for the other side.
In reply, the asking rate turned out to be too steep an ask for Abu Dhabi, and even as they safeguarded their wickets, the hosts could not find their groove. Delhi bowling led by two Pakistanis Fazalhaq Farooqi and Salman Irshad restricted Jonny Bairstow from giving a fluent performance.
Even after Leus du Plooy, the South African domestic cricketer came and smashed 32 off 12 balls, Team Abu Dhabi could manage to cross the 150 run mark as they were bundled out on 116/7 and thus got knocked out of the tournament losing the match by 42 runs.
Before that, Bulls broke the hearts of UP Nawabs in the first Eliminator and the possibility to stay into the tournament longer reserved another brilliant innings of Banton and nice bowling display for the side. The bowling delivered by UAE’s Muhammad Rohid and Farooqi ensured that Nawabs amassed only 99/7 in the 10 overs.
Chasing the total, opener Banton set the pace right for his side, making an unbeaten 50 off 22 balls to help his team win the game in just 7.1 overs.
