Bangla Tigers 137 for 4 (Miller 50, Cox 35, Neesham 2-22) beat Northern Warriors 135 for 5 (Zazai 57, Neesham 23*, Brathwaite 2-26) by two runs
Jimmy Neesham made a mark with the ball with two wickets, and scored 23 not out in 14 balls, but couldn’t hit the boundary Northern Warriors needed off the final delivery, giving Bangla Tigers their second win from four games.
It was a close finish. Chasing Tigers’ 137 for 4, Warriors crossed 100 in the sixth over, Hazratullah Zazai hogging the limelight with a power-packed half-century. When Zazai fell for 57, scored in just 20 balls with five sixes and five fours, the equation was very much in Warriors’ favour: 38 needed from 25 balls.
Cue a slowdown. Josh Little and Carlos Brathwaite quickly reduced Warriors to 111 for 5, and they now needed 27 from 12. Daniel Sams gave away just one four in a ten-run ninth over, and Neesham needed to score 17 in the last, bowled by Dominic Drakes. He – and Ziaur Rahman – managed just 14.
That Tigers got a big total, after scoring just 81 for 7 in a defeat to Delhi Bulls in their previous fixture, was down to David Miller (50 in 24 balls), Jordan Cox (35 in 16) and Kusal Mendis (20 in ten). Avishka Fernando had been dismissed after a four-ball 11 before Cox and Mendis put together 52 runs in just over three overs for the second wicket. Neesham removed both of them in the fifth over, but it took Warriors till the last ball of the innings to get their next wicket, when Miller was run-out trying to steal a single.
It looked like a good-enough total, but Zazai certainly gave Tigers a fright, till Drakes held his nerves to get them the win they needed.
Samp Army 96 for 6 (Du Plessis 30, Najibullah 25*, Farooqi 2-17, Bravo 2-22) beat Delhi Bulls 95 for 8 (Vince 24, Irshad 3-14, Holder 3-15) by four wickets
Morrisville Samp Army ended Delhi Bulls’ winning run with a four-wicket victory in a match that became closer than anticipated for roughly three-fourths of its duration.
Jason Holder and Salman Irshad returned economical three-wicket hauls to set up a 96-run chase for Samp Army, and they were coasting with Faf du Plessis and Andries Gous at 60 for 2 at the end of sixth over, with 36 to get from four overs. But Fazalhaq Farooqi sent back du Plessis (30 off 17 balls) and Gous (20 off 13) in the seventh over, and after an 11-run over from Richard Gleeson, Dwayne Bravo picked up two more wickets in the ninth.
That left Rovman Powell with the ball, Najibullah Zadran in front him, and 12 runs for Samp Army to get. It went dot, six, two and four, and Samp Army were home. It was their third win in four games, putting them level with Delhi Bulls, who were still at the top of the table.
In the first half, there were a couple of partnerships for Bulls up top, but nothing substantial, and nothing very quick. James Vince top-scored with 24 off 14, and though Powell’s 19 came in just eight balls, with Irshad, the Pakistani medium-pacer, returning 3 for 14 and Holder chipping in with 3 for 15, Bulls were kept to a below-par total.
Deccan Gladiators 85 for 0 (Kohler-Cadmore 44*, Pooran 35*) beat Chennai Braves 83 for 8 (Eskinazi 25, Russell 2-12, Thushara 2-26) by ten wickets
On the back of Andre Russell’s economical spell, Deccan Gladiators notched up their third win – and inflicted a third defeat upon Chennai Braves – to move to the second spot on the points table.
After opting to field, Gladiators struck twice in the third over with Russell dismissing both the Braves openers – Kobe Herft and Jason Roy – in the space of three balls to set the tone. Trent Boult, Zahoor Khan, Imad Wasim, Nuwan Thushara all chipped in with the wickets to leave Braves reeling at 47 for 7 in the seventh over.
But a counter-attacking innings from Stephen Eskinazi saw Braves get to 83, a total they could have hoped to challenge Gladiators with. Eskinazi hit three fours and relied on his running as he scored 25 off just 14 balls, before being run-out in the last over.
A target of 84, though, proved no real challenge for the Gladiators, who romped home by ten wickets. Tom Kohler-Cadmore and captain Nicholas Pooran polished off the chase with 23 balls to spare. Kohler-Cadmore struck five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 19-ball 44 while Pooran made 35 in 19 with three fours and three sixes.
