Abu Dhabi, December 1 (IANS). Deccan Gladiators defeated Morrisville Samp Army, who had a stellar performance in the round-robin stage, in Qualifier 1 of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 tournament at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
With this spectacular win, the two-time champion Gladiators made it to the finals for the fourth consecutive time and fifth time overall.
Thanks to the brilliant batting of their captain and West Indies player Nicholas Pooran and England’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the Gladiators posted a mammoth score of 147/2 in 10 overs. Puran remained unbeaten on 72 runs off 33 balls, an innings which included five sixes and four fours.
Kohler-Cadmore, on the other hand, scored a half-century but was eventually dismissed for 51 runs off 24 balls.
Morrisville Samp Army then started the chase in a positive manner and scored 13 runs in the first over, but the Gladiators bowling unit soon made a comeback as England fast bowler Richard Gleeson dismissed Charith Asalanka for just one wicket in the second over. Sent back to the pavilion for 1 run. After this, wickets started falling at regular intervals and Samp Army was pushed on the back foot, ultimately reducing the team to 102/5.
Jack Taylor top-scored with 25* off 14 balls, while wicketkeeper-batsman Andries Goss scored 22 runs off 14 balls and South Africa’s star batsman Faf du Plessis scored 21 runs off 10 balls.
Usman Tariq, Gleeson and David Wiese took wickets for the Gladiators. Tariq returned with bowling figures of 2-19 from his two overs and played a major role in keeping the opponents’ scoring rate in check. Gleeson and Wiese took one wicket each for the team.
Morrisville Samp Army are still not out of the competition as they will now face the winner of Eliminator 2 in Qualifier 2. Deccan Gladiators will face the winner of Qualifier 2 in the title match on Monday.
-IANS
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