Qalandars notch up their second consecutive nine-wicket victory

Abu Dhabi, Jan 30: Qalandars recorded their second consecutive nine-wicket win in the ninth match of the Abu Dhabi T10 at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium.

On the third day, they breezed to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Team Abu Dhabi. This team started their campaign on the second day through a nine-wicket win over Pune Devils. In the match against Team Abu Dhabi, once again they displayed their strong bowling and batting strength to win by nine wickets.

Ever-green Shahid Afridi led the bowling attack by taking two wickets for just 16 runs to walk away the man of the match award. It was Qalandars' tight bowling that restricted Team Abu Dhabi to 100 runs. Chasing the target, Qalandars, through a quick 30 from Tom Banton, an unbeaten 40 from Sharjeel Khan, and an unconquered 27 from skipper Sohail Akhtar, won the match with ten balls to spare.

Earlier, Qalandars won the toss and elected to field. Pakistan's experienced pacer Sohail Tanvir bowled an intelligent first over giving away just seven runs to Team Abu Dhabi openers Chris Gayle and Paul Stirling. Ahmed Daniyal too bowled a tight second over giving away only seven runs. UAE’s left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed got Gayle caught by Sohail Tanvir at deep backward square leg for 5. Stirling hit Sultan’s last ball for a six over deep mid-wicket.

Shahid Afridi, who was introduced for the fourth over, gave away nine runs. At the halfway mark, Team Abu Dhabi was 41 for 1. Afridi, who bowled the sixth over, had Ben Duckett caught by Tanvir at deep third man for 15 and also had Stirling caught by Asif Ali at deep mid-wicket for 29.

Ahmad Daniyal, who was reintroduced in the seventh over, bowled brilliantly to give away just four runs. Chris Jordan bowled the eighth over and was hit by Joe Clark for a six to square leg and two exquisite drives to the cover boundary. Clark did not spare Sohail Tanvir too, who bowled the next over. He hit him for a six to deep mid-wicket and also picked a boundary behind square leg.

Jordan ended Clarke’s innings with the second ball of the last over by trapping him leg before for 34. Najibullah Zadran then smashed Jordan over long-on for a six to help Team Abu Dhabi reach the 100 run mark before he was run out off the last ball.

Chasing the target, Tom Banton gave Qalandars a breezy start by hitting Usman Sanwari for three consecutive boundaries to take 18 runs off the first over. Banton also picked a boundary off Rohan Mustafa’s second over. In the third over, Naveen Ul Haq ended Banton’s innings by having him caught at point by Mustafa for 30. Sohail Akhtar joined opener Sharjeel Khan and maintained the run flow well. Akhtar started with two consecutive boundaries off Obed McCoy. Sharjeel too picked the right balls to keep the scoreboard moving at a brisk pace. He helped Qalandars reach their target by hitting Shinwari for two successive boundaries off the first two balls of the ninth over.

Brief scores:

Qalandars bt Team Abu Dhabi by nine wickets Team Abu Dhabi 100 for 5 in 10 overs (Paul Stirling 29, Joe Clarke 34, Shahid Afridi 2 for 16) Qalandars 104 for 1 in 8 overs (Tom Banton 30, Sharjeel Khan 40n.o, Sohail Akhtar 27n.o) Man of the match: Shahid Afridi.