Qalandars extended their winning streak in the Abu Dhabi T10 Super League with a four-wicket win over Maratha Arabians on Tuesday.
It was another strong all-round performance from Qalandars who restricted Arabians to 101 for 5 in 10 overs despite Mohammad Hafeez's 44 runs. Their accurate left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir picked three wickets for 22 runs.
Chasing the target, Qalandars managed to maintain their run flow despite losing wickets at regular intervals. Through quick knocks from Sharjeel Khan (28), Sohail Akhtar (20) and Ben Dunk's (26 not out), they sailed smoothly towards their target with 11 balls to spare.
Arabians opener Mohammad Hafeez began by picking two boundaries off Sultan Ahmed's first over. The second over from experienced Pakistan bowler Sohail Tanvir was a tight one as usual and yielded just one boundary to Abdul Shakoor. In the third over, Sultan got his UAE teammate Shakoor caught at deep square leg by Asif Ali for 11.
Hafeez and Laurie Evans tried their best to force the run flow but managed only seven runs from Ahmed Dyal's over. Hafeez managed to hit Shahid Afridi for a boundary and a six to pick 14 runs off the over. At the halfway mark, Arabians reached the 50 run mark.
Evans attempted a slog-sweep off Dyal and was bowled for 9. This brought in Shoaib Malik, who flicked the first ball he faced for a boundary.
To tighten the fun flow, Qalandars introduced Chris Jordan and he gave away just five runs. Malik picked a boundary off Afridi who bowled the eighth over. Hafeez too hit Afridi for a boundary to get 14 runs off that over.
When Chris Jordan again bowled brilliantly giving away just eight runs in the ninth over, Arabians' hopes of reaching the 100 run mark began to fade. Hafeez hit Tanvir's first delivery of the last over for a six over mid-wicket and fell to the next ball getting caught by Sharjeel Khan at deep square leg for 44.
Tanvir dismissed next man Mukhtar Ali for 4 and Malik for 23 with the fourth and fifth deliveries respectively. Mosaddek Hossain hit Tanvir's last ball of the last over for a boundary through a reverse sweep to steer his team past the 100 run mark.
To contain Qaladar's strong batting line up and defend a total of 101 for 5 wasn't easy. Qalandars opener Tom Banton got run out off Sri Lankan leg spinner Kevin Koththigoda's fifth ball of the first over in a terrible mix up with his partner Sharjeel Khan.
In the second over, Sharjeel played a fluent cover drive and also pulled Yamin Ahmadzai for two consecutive boundaries. In-form skipper Sohail Akhtar hit Mukhtar Ali for a six over long on and also flicked him for a boundary.
Sharjeel hit Sompal Kami for two successive sixes in the fourth over. Akhtar too hit him for a six off the fifth delivery but got trapped leg before with the last ball of that over for 20. Shoaib Malik bowled a tight fifth over and also had Sharjeel caught at long-on for 28.
Qalandars needed 37 runs from the last five overs. Ben Dunk hit Mosaddek Hossain for two boundaries while Asif Ali too picked one boundary to get 15 runs off that over. Ishan Ali, who bowled the seventh over, had Asif caught at long off for 10 and gave away only seven runs.
With 15 runs needed off the last three overs, Arabians introduced Ahmadzai for the eighth over. He forced Afridi to edge to wicketkeeper Shakoor for 2. Next man Dyal hit the first ball he faced for a straight six and got out to the next one top edging to short fine leg. Then Dunk hit the winning boundary off the first ball of the ninth over to easily reach their target.
Brief scores: Maratha Arabians 101/5 (Mohammad Hafeez 44; Sohail Tanvir 3-22); Qalandars 104/6 (Sharjeel Khan 28, Yamin Ahmadzai 2-21).
( With inputs from ANI )
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