Abu Dhabi, Nov 22 (IANS) Batters Faf du Plessis and Johnson Charles came up with superb performances to guide their teams Morrisville Samp Army and Northern Warriors to victory in their respective matches in the Abu Dhabi T10 here on Friday. Faf struck 75 not out off 32 balls for Samp Army against New York Strikers while Charles scored 54* off 23 balls for Warriors against Delhi Bulls.
In the second match of the day, Morrisville Samp Army’s batters especially Faf du Plessis unleashed a stunning performance as the side posted 135/1 in 10 overs. Du Plessis along with his opening partner Sharjeel Khan shared a first-wicket partnership of 61 before Sharjeel departed for 14 off 12 in the match played at the Zayed Stadium here.
But the Proteas batter continued his rivetting display of batting and was joined by Andries Gous. Faf pushed the paddle in the 9th over of the innings when he hit Sunil Narine for four sixes in the over and collected a total of 25 runs. While he struck 75 not out off 32 balls, Gous ended up getting 41 not out off 16.
The New York Strikers didn’t get the start they wanted in the chase and lost wickets at regular intervals. They were reduced to 47/4 and were eventually restricted to 99/7. Amir Hamza scalped a three-fer for his side while Karim Janat picked up a couple as Samp Army won by 36 runs.
Earlier, the Delhi Bulls were up against Northern Warriors in the first match of the day and the Warriors rode on an exceptional batting display from Johnson Charles to go over the line by seven wickets with one over to spare while chasing a target of 110 at the Zayed Stadium. The Colin Munro-led side Northern Warriors lost early wickets and were in a spot of bother at 31/3 when Charles joined hands with Sherfane Rutherford to bail the side out of a tricky situation. The two batters stitched an unbeaten partnership of 79 runs for the fourth wicket.
Charles took on Naveen-ul-Haq in the penultimate over and hammered six maximums in the over to win the match for his side. The right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 54 off 23 that included six sixes and a couple of fours. On the other hand, Rutherford too chipped in with 20 not out from 12 balls.
Earlier, Delhi Bulls put up 109/6 in 10 overs. James Vince top-scored with 27 off 16 while Adam Lyth struck 25 off 10 for the side. For the Northern Warriors, Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 1-15 in two overs.
–IANS
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