Web Desk :
Deccan Gladiators recorded a thumping ten-wicket victory over Chennai Braves in the 17th match of the Abu Dhabi T10 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium. Chennai Braves paid the price for a poor batting display mustering just 83 for 8 in ten overs. Their batting crumbled against the bowling of Andre Russell (2 for 12) and Nuwan Thushara (2 for 26). Only Stephen Eskinazi’s 25 put up some resistance against Deccan’s accurate bowling attack.
Chasing the moderate target, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and skipper Nicholas Pooran thrashed the Chennai attack to win in 6.1 overs. Kohler Cadmore remained unbeaten on 44 off 19 balls with three boundaries and Pooran unconquered on 35 off 19 balls with three boundaries and three sixes.
Deccan Gladiators won the match with 23 balls to spare and moved to the second slot in the table.
Brief scores:
Deccan Gladiators bt Chennai Braves by 10 wkts. Chennai Braves 83 for 8 in 10 overs (Stephen Eskinazi 25, Andre Russell 2 for 12, Nuwan Thushara 2 for 26) Deccan Gladiators 85 for no loss in 6.1 overs (Tom Kohler-Cadmore 44n.o, Nicholas Pooran 35n.o)
Player of the Match: Andre Russell
The tale of Chennai’s dismal batting
Earlier, except for Stephen Eskinazi, the rest of the Chennai Braves batters failed to rise to the challenge. Deccan Gladiators’ bowling attack was led by Andre Russell with two wickets for 12 and well backed by Nuwan Thushara – both brilliant after electing to bowl first.
Chennai Braves’s innings began by taking 11 runs off the first over from Andre Russell with opener Jason Roy flicking the second ball of the match to the boundary. The second over too was uneventful from Imad Wasim and saw Roy sweeping him for another boundary.
The third over was from Russell, and that’s when everything began to happen. He got opener Kobe Herft caught by Thushara at backward point for 4 with the second ball. He also got Roy identically by Thushara for 15. The fourth over saw Trent Boult remove the dangerous Sikandar Raza, clean bowled for 4.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa looked set to lift his team out of trouble by hitting Zahoor Khan for a boundary and a six. But Zahoor struck back to have Rajapaksa caught by Nicholas Pooran at mid-on for 12. Wickets continued to fall with Imad Wasim removing Charith Asalanka caught brilliantly by Boult at mid-wicket for 4.
Tushara struck vital blows in the seventh over. With the first ball, he had Mohammad Nabi caught by Imad Wasim at point for 2 and with the next ball got Vriitya Aravind clean bowled – a beauty that went through his defense.
Stepehn Eskinazi hit two boundaries off Tushara in the ninth over. Off the first ball of the last over, Eskinazi got run out for 25 while attempting to steal a quick bye. Zahoor gave just three runs of that over and Chennai Braves could muster only 83 for 8 in 10 overs.
Kohler-Cadmore and Pooran’s breezy chase
Deccan Gladiators began their chase with their heavy scoring opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore hitting Sam Cook’s fourth delivery for a six over extra cover. Skipper Nicholas Pooran, played out Junaid Siddique with respect scoring only six runs off the second over. However, in the third over from Cooks, he hit a boundary to mid-wicket and got another four runs off a thick inside edge. Pooran then hit Cook to mid-wicket for a huge six.
When Chris Sole was introduced for the fourth over, Pooran hit him for a six to deep mid-wicket and over long off of the fourth and fifth deliveries. Fifteen runs came off that over and Deccan Gladiators needed only 39 runs off 36 balls. Not wanting to be overshadowed by Pooran, Kohler-Cadmore pulled Obed McCoy’s first delivery for a huge six and whacked another to mid-wicket for a boundary. He also hit the fifth delivery for another boundary.
Kohler-Cadmore then took on Junaid Siddique and hit him for three consecutive boundaries and a six to speed up the race to the target. Twenty-one runs were scored off that over. Pooran tooks his team to the target by stylishly driving Sole through the covers for a boundary to record an emphatic ten-wicket victory.
