Team Abu Dhabi and Delhi Bulls battled hard for a victory but the match ended in a tie. The second match of the day in the Abu Dhabi T10 on Friday at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket stadium lit up the tournament through a thriller. So keenly fought was the contest that after Team Abu Dhabi posted 120 for 2 in 10 overs through a fine unbeaten knock of 64 from Brandon King, Delhi Bulls chased the target strongly but could only equal the score off the last ball. Imad Wasim tried hard to take Delhi Bulls past the target with an unbeaten 21.
This exciting contest began with Team Abu Dhabi winning the toss and electing to bat. Opener Alex Hales gave Abu Dhabi a quick start hitting Imad Wasim’s fifth and sixth ball of the first over for sixes. Waqas Masood ended Hales’ knock with the last ball of the second over getting him caught at deep midwicket by Rilee Rossouw for 14. Then Richard Gleeson struck in the third over dismissing opener Chris Lynn with the first ball caught by Dwayne Bravo at slip for 4. James Vince began by hitting Maqsood for a boundary to short fine leg. Keemo Paul bowled a good fifth over preventing the batsmen from playing any big shots. At the half way mark, Team Abu Dhabi was 41 for 2.
Shiraz Ahmed the hero of their last match against Northern Warriors was introduced for the sixth over. Except for Brandon King scoring a boundary off the first ball, he gave nothing away. King changed the course of the innings in the seventh over hitting Keemo Paul for two consecutive sixes off the second and third deliveries. Vince too hit him for another six off the fifth ball. Thus 22 runs came off the seventh over. Shiraz, who bowled the eighth over was hit for two boundaries by King to take 13 runs off that over. Gleeson tied the batsmen in the ninth over by not yielding any big hits and giving away just eight runs.
Skipper Dwayne Bravo introduced himself for the last over. King hit Bravo’s first ball through extra cover for a boundary. He then hit the next for a six again over extra cover to reach his half century. He also cracked Bravo through the extra cover for another boundary. King then went on to whip Bravo for a six off the fifth ball and got 25 runs off the last over. This gave Team Abu Dhabi a creditable 120 for 2 in 10 overs. King walked back to the dug-out, clapped all the way for his knock of 64 off 27 balls with five boundaries and four sixes. Vince remained unbeaten on 26.
Chasing a run-rate of 12, Delhi Bulls opener Tom Banton smashed the second ball of the first over for a four from Naveen Ul Haq through the covers. He also hit the fourth ball through the same region for another boundary. Peter Hatzoglou, who bowled the second over, was hit by opener Rossouw for a boundary and a six off the first two deliveries.
Banton too hit Hatzoglou for a six and a boundary off the fifth and sixth deliveries. Twenty-one runs came off that over. Tye who bowled the third over was also hit for a six by Rossouw to fine leg. With the fourth ball, Tye got Rossouw out caught by Abid Ali at extra cover for 18.
Jordan Cox, who joined Banton, hit Adil Rashid for a six, but Rashid gave away only nine runs in the over. The fifth over from Amad Butt ended Banton’s knock. He got him trapped leg before for 19. Tim David took charge and hit Butt for a boundary and in the next over hit Rashid for a huge six. Coxt too hit Hatzoglou for six. But Hatzoglou struck in the seventh over removing David, trapped leg before for 20.
Forty-four runs were needed off the last 18 balls and the pressure began to mount on Delhi Bull batsmen. Tye got Cox out for 18 caught by Amad Butt at extra cover. Imad Wasim then hit Tye for a boundary and a six to make it 29 runs from 12 balls. Keemo Paul lit up hopes of victory with two successive sixes off Amad Butt. He also hit the third for a boundary to fine leg. Unfortunately, Paul fell to the last ball caught by King at extra cover for 16.
The last over drama
With 13 runs needed off the last over, Imad Wasim took a single off Naveed Ul Haq’s first delivery. Dwayne Bravo too took a single off the second delivery. The third delivery was hit for a boundary over the covers by Imad to make it seven from three balls. The fourth resulted in two byes including an overthrow. Imad then took two runs off the fifth ball to long-off. With three runs needed off the last ball for a win, it was anybody’s game. A straight drive from Imad fetched him just two runs and the match ended in a tie.
Brief scores:
Team Abu Dhabi-Delhi Bulls match tied. Team Abu Dhabi 120 for 2 in 10 overs (James Vince 26n.o, Brandon King 64n.o) Delhi Bulls 120 for 5 in 10 overs (Tim David 20, Imad Wasim 21n.o, Amad Butt 2 for 26)
Player of the Match: Brandon King
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