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That brings us to the end of our coverage of the 2023 Abu Dhabi T10 eliminator. The second qualifier will begin in less than an hour's time - hop tabs to enjoy our live coverage of the same! This is Rajarshi, signing off on behalf of Soumarya. See you later!
Nicholas Pooran, Player of the Match - "All praise to the almighty. Firstly really glad to have been able to perform since it's the time for the playoffs and contribute to the team's success. It's alway great to win one game and go fresh into the next one directly. The boys have the experience and they know their roles. We need to do a lot better in the middle overs and close games out. We know what the Samp Army batters are capable of and we have our plans in place. We will be looking to execute it against them. "
Match summary:
Deccan Gladiators win by 10 wickets with 20 balls to spare
Nicholas Pooran 70*(25) | Andre Russell 2/21 (2) Gulbadin Naib 52*(26)
Clinical. No better way to describe what transpired at Abu Dhabi over the last half hour! Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Nicholas Pooran, two of the cleanest strikers of that white cricket ball, put up a show and then some, wrapping things up with plenty of time to spare in the end! Kohler-Cadmore got the ball rolling initially, smashing 14 off the first three deliveries of the chase, and Pooran took over from the Englishman after that!
The least expensive over going into the halfway mark of the chase was 13 - the game was pretty much done and dusted by then! 97 came off the first five, with the Gladiators skipper having gone past a blazing half-century off 16 balls, studded with 6 boundaries and 4 towering sixes. Kohler-Cadmore happily took a backseat and went on to enjoy the show as the Gladiators skipper wreaked havoc.
Not a single bowler had an answer to the onslaught - neither the pacers nor the spinners were spared! Rohan Mustafa was brought on to counter Pooran with his away-going spin deliveries - he ended up dishing everything up to the swashbuckling leftie, and was taken to the cleaners. The Gladiators, high on momentum and adrenaline, are set for a second successive knockout clash now - the second qualifier against the Morrisville Samp Army.
Well, that's that! Light work for Pooran and Kohler-Cadmore, and the Gladiators keep their hopes alive for a place in the final!
6.4 Dominic Drakes to Nicholas Pooran, FOUR! And that will be a win for the Gladiators! They've chased this total down by 10 wickets. It was bowled short and outside off stump. Pooran played the upper cut on top of the bounce and got it past third man for a boundary.
6.3 Dominic Drakes to Tom Kohler-Cadmore, fuller and outside off stump. TKC gets it through cover for a single.
6.2 Dominic Drakes to Nicholas Pooran, fuller and at the base of leg stump. Pooran flicks it away in front of mid wicket for a single
6.1 Dominic Drakes to Nicholas Pooran, GREAT STOP! Pooran goes down the ground to long off and the fielder saves the boundary. He will pick up a couple of runs.
Dominic Drakes, left-arm fast-medium, comes into the attack
Well, they do need another over - maybe just one more delivery to wrap this up! This has been nothing short of an enthralling batting performance from the two Gladiators openers - the ball witnessed more air time than ground time in the last fifteen minutes!
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Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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