Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell put the opposing bowlers to the sword on Friday as the Northern Warriors defeated the Punjabi Legends by 99 runs in the in the T10 League in Sharjah.
Man-of-the-Match Pooran smashed 10 sixes in a 25-ball 77 and Russell 38 from just nine balls as the Warriors racked up a mammoth 183 for 2 from their 10 overs.
Pooran opened the batting with Lendl Simmons and together they plundered the Legends’ bowling to race to 107 off 6.5 overs when Simmons got out for 36 caught by Mitchell McClenaghan off the bowling of Zahir Khan who finished with 1 for 26 off his two overs.
Simmons’ runs came off just 21 balls and which included six fours and a six.
Twenty-three runs came off the next seven balls before McClenaghan had Pooran caught by Mohammad Sami with the score at 130. Pooran scored at a remarkable rate of 308 but somehow managed to be upstaged by Russell.
Russell faced nine of the remaining 11 deliveries and proceeded to rub even more salt into the Legends’ already gaping wound. From those nine balls, he smashed six sixes and ran a couple of singles to remain unbeaten with a strike rate of 422.22.
Rovman Powell only faced five balls for his 21 that included two sixes and two fours at a strike rate of 420.
Despite taking one of the two wickets to fall, McClenaghan proved expensive with 48 runs coming from his two overs.
Chasing a mammoth total the Legends folded under the immense scoreboard pressure with Ravi Bopara reaping the richest reward with 4 for 15 off his two overs.
Anwar Ali top scored with 18 from seven balls. He was of only four players in double figures as the Legends crumbled to 84 for 7 from their allotment of overs.
Luke Ronchi, 14, Evin Lewis, 10 and Shaiman Anwar 15, were the others who got starts but were unable to carry on.