Texas Chargers held their nerve at crucial moments to defeat New York Warriors in the final of the US Masters T10. The Chargers won the inaugural title after a Super Over finish. Texas were cruising in response to a 93-run target but saw a dramatic collapse and had to redeem themselves through the tie-breaker.
Batting first in a thrilling contest, the New York Warriors lost opener Kamran Akmal off the first delivery, before Tillakaratne Dilshan and Richard Levi steadied the ship. The duo put on a 30-run stand for the second wicket, playing with a risk-free approach, before Levi was knocked over for 17.
Dilshan added 18 to the cause and was the next to depart, with Misbah-ul-Haq being joined by Shahid Afridi. They could not kick on as Afridi was dismissed for 1, by Ehsan Adil, who finished his spell with three wickets.
The captain could add only five in the seventh over, and Abdul Razzaq (3) departed in the eighth over, with the score at 62/6. After that, Jonathan Carter teed off for the Warriors, smashing three sixes and as many boundaries, taking the team to 92/6 in their quota of 10 overs.
In response, Texas lost the wicket of the in-form Mukhtar Ahmed for 6 in the second over. However, the very experienced Mohammad Hafeez had skipper Ben Dunk for company, and the duo dug in.
Hafeez has been in scintillating form and along with Dunk, put on a 46-run stand to set the Chargers on the way to the finish line. Dunk was dismissed for 20 but Hafeez was looking dangerous, as the Chargers reached 60/2 at the halfway stage.
Soon after, Hafeez was dismissed for 46, and Darren Stevens was gone for two, as the Chargers lost their fourth wicket. In the ninth over, Sohail Khan struck a few big blows as Upul Tharanga (1), Phil Mustard (0), Thisara Perera (4) and Neil Broom (1) were all dismissed quickly. Sohail finished with a five-wicket haul as the Warriors took control.
In the final over, Shahid Afridi picked two wickets, as the Chargers were all out for 92, in their 10 overs, forcing the final into a tie-breaker.
In the Super Over, the Chargers batted first with Dunk and Hafeez coming out to face Sohail. The Chargers hit a couple of sixers and lost one wicket, of Hafeez, on the way to posting 15 runs. In reply, New York had Shahid Afridi and Jonathon Carter taking strike. The duo threw the kitchen sink at the Chargers, but fell just short, scoring 13 runs off the over.
Hafeez was also instrumental and consistent for Texas in the play-offs, including the Qualifer 2 when the Chargers knocked out California Knights by seven wickets and seven balls to spare.
Chasing a target of 140 in a high-scoring affair that saw a combined 23 sixes being hit, Hafeez and Mukhtar struck 20, 22 and 22 runs in Overs 2 to 4 to seal victory convincingly. Texas were leading the table in the league stage at one point but were the fourth and last to enter the play-offs. Yet, they steamrolled their way to the title.
A celebrity T10 match was organised before the final. Bollywood stars such as Suniel Shetty and Sohail Khan took part in the match along with chairman of T-Ten Global Sports, Shaji Ul Mulk, and Ritesh Patel, CEO of SAMP Group, the league’s organising partner.
Brief scores:
New York Warriors 92/6 (Jonathan Carter 39*, T Dilshan 18; Ehsan Adil 3/11; Imran Khan 1/15) tied with Texas Chargers 92 (Mohammad Hafeez 46, Ben Dunk 20; Sohail Khan 5/15, Umaid Asif 2/14)
