Lendl Simmons came up trumps for the Northern Warriors Friday in their seven-wicket win over Team Abu Dhabi with two balls to spare to advance to the final of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament.
It was Rovman Powell, though, who gave his team a chance while Simmons took them home.
Needing 61 from the last five overs, Northern Warriors, chasing 115 for victory, saw Powell smash 49 from 24 balls. His knock included five fours and two sixes. Together with Simmons, they took the score from 23 for 2 mid-way the third over to 99 for 2 from 8.5 overs.
However, when Powell was bowled off the inside edge from the last ball of Obed McCoy’s allotment, Simmons still had it all to do with the Warriors needing 16 from the last six balls.
The Trinidadian veteran duly obliged hitting two sixes from the second and fourth balls of Tom Helm's final to propel his team to victory.
Earlier Fabian Allen took 4 for 13 as Team Abu Dhabi fell away from 55 without loss after 2.5 overs to 114 for 7. Paul Stirling got TAD off to flyer smashing six sixes and three fours in his 13-ball knock. However, once he got out caught at mid-off from the bowling of Rayad Emrit, TAD struggled.
Gayle was out next ball for 7 caught at long-on by Allen from a Junaid Siddique delivery.
Allen then struck with the ball taking two wickets in each of his two overs as TAD slumped to 107 for 6 at the end of the ninth over.
Northern Warriors, a team that boasts five Caribbean players – Simmons, Powell, Allen, Pooran, and Emrit – will now face Delhi Bulls captained by Dwayne Bravo.
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Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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