Team Abu Dhabi openers help seal win over Braves to maintain perfect record
Team Abu Dhabi notched up their fourth victory to move to the top of the table while Deccan Gladiators snapped Delhi Bulls’ perfect record in the Abu Dhabi T10 at Zayed Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Abu Dhabi openers Phil Salt and Paul Stirling put on a stand of 88 runs in 37 balls as they chased down a target of 132 with eight wickets in hand against Chennai Braves.
Stirling fell after an 18-ball 44. However, Salt (63 not out off 28 balls) was joined by his captain Liam Livingstone (24 off 10) and the two added 36 for the second wicket to complete victory with four balls to spare.
For the Braves, Bhanuka Rajapaksa top scored with 54 with his Sri Lankan teammates Angelo Perera (32 not out) and Dasun Shanaka (23 not out) chipping in with useful contributions en route to 131-2.
In the early match, the Gladiators dismissed the Bulls for 112 – only the fourth team to be all out in the history of the format. The Gladiators raced to their target with 16 balls to spare.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore (51 not out) and Tom Banton (44) set up the run chase with a sparkling 100-run opening wicket stand in 39 balls.
Captain Kohler-Cadmore smacked five sixes and three fours in his 19-ball knock, including four successive maximums off England spinner Adil Rashid. Banton’s 21-ball knock contained five fours and three sixes and he departed with the job almost done.
“We just needed to go out there and keep scoring because they are a good team,” Kohler-Cadmore said of their second win in three games.
“The T10 is a simple format as the intent is to hit every ball for a six. It clicked for us tonight.”
The Bulls, sent into bat, were given a pretty good start by their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rilee Rossouw, adding 32 off 14 balls, before David Wiese had Gurbaz (16) caught behind off his second delivery.
Mohammed Hafeez fell to the Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga soon after. Just when Sherfane Rutherford threatened to regain momentum with a six-ball knock of 19, Hasaranga had him caught and the Bulls quickly lost their way.
Opening batsman Rossouw held one end together for a well-compiled 21-ball 48 and was the seventh batsman out.
Andre Russell and Tymal Mills completed the demolition work by taking five wickets between them.
Mills, coming in for the first time in the tournament, bowled an excellent first over, the seventh in the match, in which he picked up his England teammate and T20 World Cup captain Eoin Morgan.
The left arm pacer returned with 2-12 while Russell took 3-17 from two overs apiece.
In the early match, the Gladiators dismissed the Bulls for 112 – only the fourth team to be all out in the history of T10