Russell smashed six sixes in his nine-ball 38
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.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
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England assistant coach Graham Thorpe wants players to use their experience of the 1-0 Test series defeat in New Zealand to develop a harder edge.
Joe Root's side are back in action in South Africa later this month, with the first of four Tests starting on Boxing Day at Centurion.
James Anderson, Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow are expected to return to the squad having sat out the trip to New Zealand, where a draw in Hamilton meant the tourists were unable to overturn an innings defeat in the first Test at Mount Maunganui.
Nevertheless, Thorpe acknowledges there is a bigger picture to consider when it comes to England developing their Test game under new head coach Chris Silverwood – namely the next chance to regain the Ashes in 2021-22.
"We've got to keep developing our players, no doubt about that. They have to ask themselves when they come away from a trip like this: where can I get better?" said Thorpe, as quoted by The Guardian.
"Because the big picture is that down the line, in a couple of years' time, we'll need resilient cricketers going to Australia.
"It’s down to our players to be honest and for us to be honest with them.
"If we are going to keep trying to go up that Test ladder and really compete abroad then we have to keep challenging the players along the way."
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