Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran powered the Deccan Gladiators to an eight stroke victory over Morrisville Samp Army to advance to the Abu Dhabi T10 Final.
Russell shone in the tie-break with a 63-32 ball before Pooran guided his side over the line with an unplayed 38 from 12 at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Russell had four sixes and seven fours and was bowled out in second place at 105. Pooran then took matters into his own hands to bring the defending champions home two deliveries and set up a matchup with the New York Strikers.
Moeen Ali had previously hit a 29 78 blaze ball, not out, after Army Sampdoria were sent to bat. The English player hit half a dozen sixes and as many quads.
Moeen hit Russell for three sixes in the eighth over and Tabraiz Shamsi for two in the next, before taking 12 from Zahoor Khan to take his side’s score to 119 for two.
Earlier, the Strikers beat Army Sampdoria by four wickets with nine remaining to secure their place in the final.
Sent to bat first, the Strikers offense took over to limit Army Sampdoria to 81 for 9. Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Jordan Thompson and Wahab Riaz each took two wickets.
Hosein started the run by taking two wickets in two deliveries in the first over. The lefty picked off Johnson Charles (1) and Karim Janat (0) with his fourth and fifth balls.
Rampaul then scored twice in the third over to dismiss Moeen Ali (12) and Basil Hameed (9) and Samp Army to 26 for four.
Even the Strikers didn’t have it easy. They lost Paul Stirling (1) in the second to Maheesh Theekshana, who returned with three for 12, before Emirati international Muhammad Waseem drove them home with an unprecedented 36 from 16 balls.
The Abu Dhabi side’s hope of winning an elusive T10 title ended in the round of 16 when they were beaten by the Deccan Gladiators by five runs in the second match of the night.
The hosts did well to limit the Gladiators to 94 for six, but fell short in pursuit to finish with 89 for eight.
