Dan Lawrence and Carlos Brathwaite led Chennai Braves to a valiant march past Deccan Gladiators in the 18th match of the seventh day of the Abu Dhabi T10 at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Lawrence hit an 18-ball 40 with four boundaries and two sixes, while Brathwaite smashed a seven-ball 27 with four sixes. The pair’s onslaught helped Chennai Braves register a six-wicket win with three balls to spare.
Chennai had just one win and lost three matches before this match, while Gladiators had won three matches and lost just one.
Chennai Braves won the toss and chose to field. Deccan Gladiators, aggressive openers Jason Roy and Tom Kohler-Cadmore started confidently. Kohler-Cadmore hit Sam Cook for a boundary on the third ball to mid-off and a six on the last ball of long-on. Roy slid Olly Stone’s third delivery to third man for a boundary.
In the third over, Roy picked two consecutive boundaries off James Fuller, while Kohler-Cadmore finished the over with another boundary towards third. The boundary chase continued in the fourth over as Roy picked two boundaries off Stone. The 50-run partnership came in 4.1 overs when Kohler-Cadmore bowled Carlos Brathwaite through the hands of third man. He also got another boundary at excellent cover and by the halfway mark, Deccan Gladiators were at a whopping 62 for no loss.
When Chennai skipper Sikandar Raza introduced himself, Kohler-Cadmore hit him for a six over long-on. He also hit Brathwaite’s first delivery of the seventh over for a six in the deep. Brathwaite ended the 79-run partnership by having Kohler-Cadmore caught at deep mid-wicket by Stone for 40. His 19-ball over included four boundaries and three sixes. Roy then brilliantly picked the gap at extra cover for another boundary off Brathwaite. Deccan Gladiators were five runs short of the 100-run mark at the end of the eighth over when Roy hit James Fuller to mid-off.
Sam Cook bowled a tight ninth, giving away just seven runs, but Roy reached his half-century with a boundary. Sikandar Raza hit the first ball of the last over off clean bowler Andre Russell for 4. The last ball also caught Nicholas Pooran at long-on for 1. Deccan Gladiators thus reached 108 for 3 in 10 overs with Roy unbeaten on 57 off 33 balls with nine boundaries.
Chennai Braves’ chase began with opener Dawid Malan elegantly pulling Josh Little for a boundary. Debutant Dan Lawrence had no trouble lifting Tom Helm’s first delivery of the second over for six over long on. He also hit the second delivery for another six over long on. He hit the fourth delivery for a boundary. With 23 not out in just two overs, David Wiese was introduced for the third over. Malan hits his first delivery to fine leg for a boundary. Lawrence also hit Wiese at long leg for another boundary. With the last ball of this one over Wiese, Roy caught Malan, who ended up caught for 10.
Sultan Ahmed’s first delivery was greeted by Lawrence with a long-awaited boundary. Brathwaite joined Lawrence to reach Andre Russell’s second delivery for a mighty six over long-on. The third, fourth and fifth deliveries were hit for sixes and 28 batters were taken off the over. With the second delivery of the sixth over, Zahoor Khan completely demolished Brathwaite for 27. He had four sixes off his seven balls, which practically put Chennai Braves in the driver’s seat to victory.
Sultan Ahmed struck in the seventh over as Russell caught Lawrence at long-on on the fence for 40. His 18-ball delivery had four boundaries and two sixes. Braves needed 20 more runs from the last three overs. Sikandar Raza and James Fuller scored 11 runs off the last 12 deliveries. Josh Little gave away eight runs from the ninth over. With three scores from the last over needed, Helm completely smashed Fuller for 14 with the first ball of the last over. Whiteley took a single off the second ball. Helm hit the third ball long off and Sikandar won the next delivery over the keeper’s head while going for the strike.
Short reviews:
Chennai Braves bt Deccan Gladiators by 6 weeks. Deccan Gladiators 108 for 3 in 10 overs (Jason Roy 57n.o, Tom Kohler Cadmore 40, Sikandar Raza 2 for 16) Chennai Braves 109 for 4 in 9.3 overs (Dan Lawrence 40, Carlos Brathwaite 27)
Man of the Match: Dan Lawrence