When the unexpected and expected happened in one day at Abu Dhabi T10

By K.R. Nayar

Abu Dhabi T10 is all about unexpected happenings during a match. Sometimes the expected also happens. On Friday, both, the unexpected and the unexpected happened on the same day in the two matches.

Chris Gayle's half century in vain

In the first match of the day, Abu Dhabi, who was on a winning streak by recording five consecutive victories, was expected to defeat Bangla Tigers. The Tigers had earlier lost two matches too. But they shocked Abu Dhabi by registering a ten-run win.

In the second match, Chennai Braves who had crashed to five successive defeats was not expected to beat Deccan Gladiators. As expected, Gladiators recorded an easy five-wicket win. The bottom-placed Chennai produced one of their poorest batting display getting bowled out for 57.

The snapping of Abu Dhabi’s winning run was orchestrated by Tigers’ consistent opener Hazratullah Zazai and Will Jack. Zazai’s 41 came off 20 balls with three boundaries and three sixes while Jack’s 43 came off just 17 balls with five boundaries and three sixes. Skipper Faf Du Plessis, who came down the batting order, hit an unbeaten 22 off just eight balls to finally post a total of 130 for 5.

For Abu Dhabi, which has a powerful batting lineup, this target was a gettable one. James Faulkner, who hadn't been at his best until this match, removed Abu Dhabi’s openers Paul Stirling and Colin Ingram quickly. Liam Livingstone went for his shots right away and hit 20 runs off six balls, but was bowled out by Luke Wood. Benny Howell too struck twice to push Abu Dhabi into trouble. Though Chris Gayle kept alive hopes of a victory through an unbeaten 52, they fell short of the target.

The architect of the second match’s win was Sri Lanka’s leg break bowler and allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva for the Gladiators. After UAE’s left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed got opener Mohammad Shahzad out for 6, De Silva struck thrice to remove Angelo Perera, skipper Dasun Shanaka and Mark Deyal. Andre Russell then removed the experienced Ravi Bopara.  That resulted in half the Chennai batting line up back in the dug-out for 38. Except for Danuka Rajapaksa who hit 18, none of the other batsmen reached double figures.

Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva

Though the target for Gladiators was an easy 58 runs, Chennai tried hard to pick some quick wickets. Mark Deyal and Angelo Perera took two wickets each but David Wiese hit a valuable unbeaten 20 to ensure Gladiators a five-wicket win with 24 balls to spare.

The tournament is now interestingly poised with three teams at eight points each. Abu Dhabi, who got shaken by the Tigers, leads the table with ten points after all the teams have played six matches each.