ABU DHABI 21 November 2019: The Bangla Tigers’ bowlers squeezed the Northern Warriors into defeat in the sixth night of the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10, after a bowling line up that brought defeat to Darren Sammy’s side.
In spite of a strong bowling attack constraining the Bangla Tigers to 102, and some long distance shots from Andre Russell, the Tigers used the pace and power of bowlers such as Plunkett, Frylinck and Perera to defend their spot at the top of the Super League Table.
Earlier, Maratha Arabians opened their first game of the Super League Stage with Chris Lynn and Adam Lyth working to craft a magnificent partnership and posting a score of 130 to chase. However, rain led to the abandonment of the match, denying the Karnataka Tuskers a thrilling chase.
Fans were anxious to see cricketing action after the previous match between the Karnataka Tuskers and the Maratha Arabians had been abandoned due to rain. Bangla Tigers’ Rillee Rossouw and Andre Fletcher, who had been placed into bat by the Northern Warriors, did not fail to disappoint, using their strong opening partnership to power balls to boundary ropes. Both Tigers were sprinting for the team’s half century, before their dismissal at the hands of Australia’s Chris Wood and West Indies’ Rayad Emrit.
The Warriors had rumbled the Tigers, and Emrit’s second wicket of the night of Thomas Moores brought consternation and then commiseration amongst the Bangla boys. Ingram’s wicket in the sixth over left the Tigers on a tricky 54. Captain Perera continued with his low figures from this series, posting 3 off 3 balls before being caught at deep long on. David Weise tried to will some spirit into the game, but his wicket for 9 left the Tigers posting 65 for 8 at the start of the eighth over. The Tigers mustered a final few runs with the big hitting of South African Robbie Frylinck, but set a low 102 to beat for the Northern Warriors.
The Warriors began a confident chase, with Lendl Simmons and Nicholas Pooran looking to bring a fighting stance to open for the men in maroon. Weise, however, struck with the wicket of Pooran in the second over for 8, and then Simmons also followed his fellow West Indian back to the changing room nine balls later. Andre Russell and Sri Lankan Asela Gunaratne sought to regroup following the losses of their openers, but the power of Liam Plunkett and Qais Ahmad left the pair struggling to trickle past the boundary rope.
The Tigers’ bowlers pushed the pressure on the embattled Warriors, who were struggling to find distance. Russell sought to deliver boundaries, taking 18 runs from Frylinck in the eighth over, but Captain Perera tore into Russell, with a catch being delivered courtesy of Liam Plunkett at extra cover. Sam Billings and Darren Sammy desperately sought for the remaining 13 runs they required in the final over, but Weise kissed the top of Sammy’s off stump, dismissing the Captain for 1. Chris Green sought to fight the rising odds, but was caught at deep backward point for a duck. Emrit and Billings sought to take the Warriors’ the extra distance, but were six runs short from victory, allowing the Bangla Tigers to enjoy the results of a brilliantly executed bowling attack.
Man of the Match, Robbie Frylinck, commented on the Bangla Tigers’ performance: “It’s a fantastic victory for us against a team with so many big name players. The rain did affect the wicket a little bit – some of the deliveries skidded on, and others got stuck in the pitch, which made it a lot more difficult to get those shots away. In tough conditions, that makes the victory much sweeter.”
Captain of the losing Northern Warriors, Darren Sammy, said: “It wasn’t our day in the end. I think they bowled better than us through the middle overs and we couldn’t chase the total. It wasn’t a difficult total to chase – we showed that yesterday – but we just didn’t find the momentum to carry us through, and ended one or two boundaries short. For the next game, I am going to tell all the boys that it’s time to go hard or go home”
The final match of the night will bring Shane Watson’s Deccan Gladiators into conflict with the Moeen Ali’s Team Abu Dhabi.
