Imran Khan's deadly spell of four wickets for just two runs propels Texas Chargers to a 22-run victory over Atlanta Riders

By K.R. Nayar

Imran Khan shares his name with the legendary Pakistani pacer Imran Khan and is therefore known as Imran Khan Jr. Unlike the legend, this Imran Khan bowls left-arm pace. Playing for Texas Chargers, he delivered a deadly four-wicket spell, conceding only 2 runs in the 20th match of the US Masters T10 held at Lauderhill, Florida, on Friday. His spell restricted Atlanta Riders for 102 for 9 while they were chasing the Texas Chargers' total of 124 in 20 overs, resulting in a 22-run victory.


Winning the toss, Texas Chargers elected to bat. Opener Mukhtar Ahmed was dismissed by Harmeet Singh for 17 with the score at 19. Eight runs later, Mohammad Hafeez fell to Nasir Hossain for 2. Thisara Perera was caught behind by wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa off Mohammad Irfan for 2.


Starting at 38 for 3 in 3.1 overs, Ben Dunk and Upul Tharanga took the score to 71. Tharanga became another victim of Nasir Hossain, departing for 9. Dunk maintained the scoring pace, smashing 53 runs off 22 balls with eight boundaries and two sixes before being dismissed by Elias Sunny at a score of 95. Darrren Stevens bolstered the total with an unbeaten 29, while Phil Mustard chipped in with an unbeaten 10. This helped the team post an impressive total of 124 for 5 in 20 overs.


Atlanta Riders had a shocking start losing Robin Uthappa to Sohail Tanvir on the first ball of the innings. Imran Khan claimed his first wicket when he clean bowled Nasir Hossain for 1. The consistent Hamilton Masakadza also fell to Imran Khan for a duck. When Zunaed Siddique got out to Imran Khan for a duck as well, Atlanta Riders was struggling at four wickets down for five runs in two overs.


Hammad Azam and opener Lendl Simmons pushed the total to 38 before Azam was dismissed by Ehsan Adil for 26. When Lendl Simmons also fell to Pragyan Ojha for 16, Texas Chargers took a firm grip on the match. Mukhtar Ali was dismissed by Mohammad Hafeez for 2. To make matters easier for Texas Chargers, Rayad Emrit was run out for 3. Harmeet Singh became Imran Khan’s fourth victim scoring 22. Elias Sunny remained unbeaten on 20. As a result, Atlanta Riders was restricted to 102 for 9 in 20 overs, with Texas Chargers winning the match by 22 runs.

Brief scores:
Texas Chargers bt Atlanta Riders by 22 runs. Texas Chargers 124 for 5 in 10 overs (Ben Dunk 53, Darren Stevens 29n.o, Nasir Hossain 2 for 17) Atlanta Riders 102 for 9 in 10 overs (Hammad Azam 26, Elias Sunny 20n.o, 46, Imran Khan 4 for 2)
Player of the Match: Imran Khan

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