Team Abu Dhabi secured a thrilling four-wicket victory over Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 on Saturday. Team Abu Dhabi seemed down and out when they needed 31 runs to win from the last two overs, however, Jamie Overton and Danny Briggs had other plans.
Overton smashed Andre Russell for a six and a four as the Gladiators gathered 17 runs from the penultimate over. Overton scored 9 runs off the first five balls of the last over, reducing the equation to 5 runs needed off the last ball. With Hamid Hassan walking off the ground with an injury, Anwar Ali was given the responsibility of bowling the last delivery. Danny Briggs top-edged the final delivery and Russell, near the boundary rope, got a hold of the ball at fine-leg and threw it back into the ground. However, the umpires checked if Russell made contact with the boundary rope while carrying out the catch, and thereafter, a six was given to Team Abu Dhabi.
Wanindu Hasaranga bowled brilliantly early on in Team Abu Dhabi’s innings. He dismissed Captain Liam Livingstone, Colin Ingram, Chris Benjamin and Marchant de Lange, leaving Team Abu Dhabi at 51/6 in 5.3 overs. Thereafter, Overton and Briggs held their nerve and took Team Abu Dhabi to victory.
Earlier, Fidel Edwards rocked the Deccan Gladiators after trapping Tom Banton LBW and bowling out Tom Moores for nought in the first over itself. Naveen-ul-Haq made matters worse for the Gladiators when he dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Andre Russell in successive deliveries, leaving the Gladiators at 18/5 in 4.2 overs. Thereafter, Wanindu Hasaranga tried to get a move on for the Deccan Gladiators. He struck Naveen-ul-Haq for two boundaries in the fifth over and then smashed a four and a six off Danny Briggs’ bowling in the next over. However, Hasaranga tried to steal a quick single off the first delivery of the seventh over and found himself well short of the crease.
Following the Sri Lankan’s departure, Odean Smith took centre stage for the Gladiators. He smashed Marchant de Lange for two sixes and a four in the ninth over, taking the Gladiators’ score to 87/7. Smith’s quick-fire innings of 34 runs from 11 balls helped his team reach a competitive score of 97/9 in their 10 overs.
Brief scores: Team Abu Dhabi 99/6 (Jamie Overton 33*, Liam Livingstone 21, Wanindu Hasaranga 4-12) beat Deccan Gladiators 97/9 (Odean Smith 34, Wanindu Hasaranga 30, Fidel Edwards 2-10) by 4 wickets.
