Morgan and Bravo's heroics helps Bulls clinch thriller

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Captain Dwayne Bravo and Eoin Morgan cool and calm innings ensured that the Delhi Bulls walked off with a five-wicket victory in their Abu Dhabi T10 match against The Chennai Braves on Sunday.

After being put into bat by the Delhi Bulls, The Chennai Braves put up 124/2 in their 10 overs.

After the Delhi Bulls lost their top four batsmen cheaply, the experienced duo of Bravo (43 runs from 17 balls) and Morgan (26* runs from 12 balls) strung a partnership of 56 runs in 22 balls, which helped the Delhi Bulls chase down their target in 9.4 overs.

The Delhi Bulls suffered a huge blow when Munaf Patel removed Rilee Rossouw and Sherfane Rutherford in the second over.

Roman Walker made matters worse when he dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammad Hafeez in the fifth over.

Thereafter, Captain Bravo got things moving with the Bulls as he smashed three boundaries off Dasun Shanaka's bowling in the sixth over.

Curtis Campher kept The Chennai Braves' hopes alive when he removed Bravo in the ninth over. However, Morgan and Romario Shepherd scored 14 runs in the last over and closed out the game for the Delhi Bulls with two balls to spare.

Earlier, Bhanuka Rajapaksa played a blistering innings of 64* runs from 31 balls, laced with 6 fours and 4 sixes and helped The Chennai Braves post a high total on the board.
Rajapaksa took on Mohammad Hafeez, smashing him for two boundaries and a six in the fourth over.

The opening batters Rajapaksa and Mark Deyal produced some fantastic hits and recorded a partnership of 81 runs from 34 balls.

After losing Deyal and Dasun Shanaka in quick succession, Ravi Bopara joined the party as he smacked Fazalhaq Farooqi and Romario Shepherd for a boundary and a six in the ninth and tenth overs respectively. Bopara remained unbeaten on 19 runs from 11 balls as The Chennai Braves raised their score to 124/2 in their 10 overs.

Meanwhile, Team Abu Dhabi secured a thrilling four-wicket victory over Deccan Gladiators in the other match. Team Abu Dhabi seemed down and out when they needed 31 runs to win from the last two overs, however, Jamie Overton and Danny Briggs had other plans.

Overton smashed Andre Russell for a six and a four as the Gladiators gathered 17 runs from the penultimate over.

Overton scored 9 runs off the first five balls of the last over, reducing the equation to 5 runs needed off the last ball. With Hamid Hassan walking off the ground with an injury, Anwar Ali was given the responsibility of bowling the last delivery.

Danny Briggs top-edged the final delivery and Russell, near the boundary rope, got a hold of the ball at fine-leg and threw it back into the ground. However, the umpires checked if Russell made contact with the boundary rope while carrying out the catch, and thereafter, a six was given to Team Abu Dhabi.

Wanindu Hasaranga bowled brilliantly early on in Team Abu Dhabi's innings. He dismissed Captain Liam Livingstone, Colin Ingram, Chris Benjamin and Marchant de Lange, leaving Team Abu Dhabi at 51/6 in 5.3 overs. Thereafter, Overton and Briggs held their nerve and took Team Abu Dhabi to victory.

Earlier, Fidel Edwards rocked the Deccan Gladiators after trapping Tom Banton LBW and bowling out Tom Moores for nought in the first over itself. Naveen-ul-Haq made matters worse for the Gladiators when he dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Andre Russell in successive deliveries, leaving the Gladiators at 18/5 in 4.2 overs.

Thereafter, Wanindu Hasaranga tried to get a move on for the Deccan Gladiators. He struck Naveen-ul-Haq for two boundaries in the fifth over and then smashed a four and a six off Danny Briggs' bowling in the next over. However, Hasaranga tried to steal a quick single off the first delivery of the seventh over and found himself well short of the crease.

Following the Sri Lankan's departure, Odean Smith took centre stage for the Gladiators. He smashed Marchant de Lange for two sixes and a four in the ninth over, taking the Gladiators' score to 87/7.

Smith's quick-fire innings of 34 runs from 11 balls helped his team reach a competitive score of 97/9 in their 10 overs.