At the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Sunday, Morrisville Samp Army defeated The Chennai Braves by eight wickets to continue their winning streak in the ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 tournament. Karim Janat and David Miller contributed to this victory.
Samp Army, making their tournament debut, won their third game in a row thanks to an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 76 runs between Janat and Miller. Miller remained unbeaten with a crucial 17, while Janat remained unbeaten on 58 off 28 balls with six sixers and one boundary.
In addition to them, Johnson Charles contributed a significant 23-run knock. After Chennai Braves posted 105 for 4 in 10 overs, Samp Army successfully pursued the mark with four balls remaining.
Samp Army chose to field after winning the toss. Adam Rossington and Dawid Malan, the opening batsmen for the Chennai Braves, got off to a strong start with Malan hitting a boundary off Sheldon Cottrell's delivery to third man and Rossington hitting a six off the final ball of the over to deep square leg. George Garton was punished by Rossington for hitting a six to fine leg in the following over.
A magnificent third over from Anrich Nortje cost just five runs, but Malan more than made up for it in the following over from Karim Janat. Off the first two deliveries, he blasted two consecutive sixes, one to deep mid-wicket and the second to deep square leg.
Ahmed Raza of the UAE had Rossington caught behind by wicketkeeper Johnson Charles for 19 in the fifth over with the sixth delivery. Malan followed in the sixth over and was dismissed for 32 off the second delivery from Dwaine Pretorius. Two sixes and a boundary were part of his knock off 20 balls.
Ross Whiteley lofted Pretorius' seventh delivery over midwicket for a six. When Raza bowled his second over, Whiteley only received a boundary. When Pretorius bowled an accurate eighth over, allowing only eight runs to be scored, the Braves' chances of making a large total started to diminish.
With only two overs remaining, the braves required 19 more runs to cross the 100-run threshold. For the ninth over, Cottrell was inserted once more. Dan Lawrence stepped up to the plate and hit Cottrell for a six to deep square leg as well as a pick-up beyond the backward point. 17 runs were scored off that over.
Lawrence, who was on 21, was caught by George Garton at midwicket, sprinting back for a superb catch, thanks to Nortje, who bowled the final over. Off the final ball, Carlos Brathwaite pulled Nortje directly to David Miller for 1. The Braves eventually scored 105 for 4 in 10 overs.
In response, Samp Army required a steady beginning, which openers Johnson Charles and captain Moeen Ali delivered. Off the second and third deliveries of the first over, Charles struck Olly Stone for two straight boundaries in his typical fashion. James Fuller was also penalised by Charles for his two boundaries in the second over.
The breakthrough was made by Sam Cook, who bowled the third over, when he dismissed Moeen Ali for six runs after having him caught by Stone at mid-off.
Johnson Charles was the prized wicket that Brathwaite, who bowled the third over, got. For a score of 23, Charles smacked Brathwaite's full toss high into Whiteley's palms. His 13-ball knock contained five boundaries. In that over, Brathwaite only allowed seven runs to score.
For the fifth over, Sikander Raza, the captain, made an introduction. Karim Janat smashed a six off the final delivery, which he bowled tightly for the first five deliveries, to long off. Still, that over only produced eight runs. Janat made good use of the sixth over from Sabir Rao to knock two consecutive sixes. 15 runs were scored off that over.
In the eighth over, David Miller slog-swept Raza for a six and scored 11 runs. It was anyone's game when 35 runs had to be scored in the final 18 balls. Stone's ninth over was tightly bowled and had no boundaries. Due to this, 26 runs were required from the final 12 balls.
The ninth over was bowled by Sam Cook, and Janat hit the third pitch for a six. With the sixth ball, Miller also picked a boundary, and that over produced 15 runs.
Samp Army began the final over needing 11 runs off of six balls. Janat reached his fifty-first run in just 27 balls after hitting the first pitch from Brathwaite for a six. In order to win the game by eight wickets, he also hit the second delivery for a six.
Brief scores: Chennai Braves 105/4 in 10 overs (Dawid Malan 32, Dan Lawrence 21, Ross Whiteley 21 not out; Anrich Nortje 2-11) lost to Morrisville Samp Army 107/2 in 9.2 overs (Karim Janat 58 not out, Johnson Charles 23, David Miller 17; Carlos Brathwaite 1-19) by 8 wickets