Karim Janat and David Miller helped Morrisville Samp Army beat Chennai Braves by eight wickets to extend their winning streak in the ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 League at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, here on Sunday.
Samp Army, who are making their debut in this tournament, registered their third straight win with Janat and Miller’s unbeaten 76-run partnership for the third winner. Janat remained unbeaten on 58 off 28 balls with six sixes and one boundary while Miller remained unbeaten with a timely 17.
Apart from them, Johnson Charles also played a valuable knock of 23 runs. Samp Army were chasing the target with four balls to spare after Chennai Braves reached 105 for 4 in 10 overs.
Samp Army won the toss and elected to field. Chennai Braves openers Adam Rossington and Dawid Malan got off to a good start, with Malan hitting Sheldon Cottrell’s boundary towards third and Rossington hitting the last ball of the over for a square six in the deep. Rossington also punished George Garton for leg six to fine in the next over.
Anrich Nortje took a brilliant third place as he bowled just five laps, but Malan made up for it in Karim Janat’s next over. He hit two consecutive sixes in the first two overs, one six to deep mid-wicket and the other to deep square.
In the fifth over, UAE’s Ahmed Raza caught Rossington with the fifth ball, who was caught by wicketkeeper Johnson Charles for 19. He was followed in the sixth over by Malan, who was cleanly bowled by Dwaine Pretorius for 32 with the second delivery. His 20 he scored two balls. sixes and one boundary.
Ross Whiteley hit Pretorius’ fifth delivery for a six over mid-wicket. Raza gave only a boundary to Whiteley with his second bowling. Chances of a big score for the Braves began to fade as Pretorius pitched a tight eighth, giving up just eight runs.
The Braves needed 19 more runs to reach the 100-run mark with just two overs remaining. Cottrell was re-introduced for the ninth over. Dan Lawrence accepted the challenge and hit Cottrell for square six to deep and also picked a boundary past last point. Seventeen runs have ended.
Nortje, batting last, had Lawrence on 21, caught at mid-wicket by George Garton, who ran back for a well-judged catch. Carlos Brathwaite pulled Nortje straight to David Miller off the last ball for 1. In the end, the Braves reached 105 for 4 in 10 overs.
In reply, Samp Army needed a steady start and openers Johnson Charles and skipper Moeen Ali provided it. In his usual style, Charles hit Olly Stone for two consecutive boundaries off the second and third deliveries of the first over. Charles also punished James Fuller for two boundaries in the second over.
Batting third, Sam Cook provided the breakthrough by catching Moeen Ali Stone at mid-wicket for 6, conceding just seven runs.
Brathwaite, who beat the third wicket, won the Johnson Charles Award with his third pass. Charles hit Brathwaite’s full toss high into the hands of Whiteley for 23. His 13 balls had five boundaries. Brathwaite conceded just seven runs in that over.
Captain Sikander Raza introduced himself for the fifth over. He hit the first five batters tight but Karim Janat hit a six off the last ball to score long on. Still, only eight runs ended that way. Sabir Rao’s sixth over was also put to good use by Janat and he hit two consecutive sixes. Fifteen runs have ended.
David Miller bowled Raz for six in the seventh over in style and took 11 runs from that over. With 35 runs needed off the last 18 balls, it was anyone’s game. Stone hit a tight eighth, but didn’t make the cut again. This resulted in 26 runs needed off the last 12 balls.
Sam Cook bowled the ninth and Janat pulled his third delivery for a six. Miller too picked a boundary off the fifth ball and 15 runs left from that.
The last over started with Samp Army needing 11 runs off six balls. Janat hit Brathwaite’s first delivery for a six to reach his half-century in 27 balls. He also hit the second delivery for a six and won the match by eight wickets.
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 out, Johnson Charles 23, David Miller 17; Carlos Brathwaite 1-19) for 8 wickets
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