Destructive Hafeez and imperious Levi set up final clash between Texas Chargers and New York Warriors
Cricket
Texas won the eliminator and the second qualifier to complete a back-door entry into the finale
(Web Desk) - A four-wicket haul from Thisara Perera and a 104-run opening partnership between Mukhtar Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez nullified Obus Pienaar's quickfire fifty and helped Texas Chargers eliminate Morrisville Unity.
Morrisville batted first with Shehan Jayasuriya beginning cautiously after losing his opening partner early. Pienaar settled quickly at No. 3 and hit Imran Khan Jr. for two consecutive boundaries in the first two balls he faced.
With Corey Anderson for company soon after, Pienaar led Morrisville into three figures in the eighth over, finishing on a solid 21-ball 55 to set Texas a target of 116.
But that proved too less against the Texas batting that chased 117 with nine balls remaining. Mukhtar drilled 47 while Hafeez made 57, and had already crossed hundred when the opening stand was broken. Navin Stewart dismissed both openers in the eighth over, but it was little consolation in the end.
Ben Dunk and Perera came out to finish the job, completed with back-to-back sixes in the ninth over.
New York Warriors secured a vital victory over California Knights in the first Qualifier of the competition to book their berth for the grand finale on Sunday. Richard Levi's imperative performance inspired the Warriors' eight-wicket win.
California openers Jacques Kallis and Aaron Finch stitched together an opening stand of 60 runs off 35 deliveries, but Jerome Taylor broke the stand in the eighth over. Ashley Nurse's 16 off 12 balls helped California post a target of 97 with Umaid Asif and Shahid Afridi providing the bowling squeeze.
Even though New York got off to a shaky start with both openers falling early, Levi and Misbah-ul-Haq stamped their authority on the game towards the sixth over to begin finding boundaries consistently. While Misbah made 29 in 13 balls, Levi hit four fours and three sixes to finish on a 24-ball 47. New York sealed the win with eight balls to spare.
Texas Chargers 140 for 3 (Hafeez 68) beat California Knights 139 for 3 (Kallis 56, Hafeez 2-16) by seven wickets
A resilient Texas Chargers side clinched back-to-back wins on the same day to secure a clash with New York Warriors in the final. After defeating Morrisville Unity in the Eliminator, Texas breezed past California Knights in the second Qualifier.
Another outstanding performance from their opening duo of Mukhtar Ahmed and Mohammed Hafeez helped Texas chase a daunting target of 140. Hafeez also clinched a couple of crucial wickets.
Chasing a challenging target at such a crucial stage, Mukhtar and Hafeez dominated proceedings by smacking 75 runs in four overs, including six sixes and seven fours in that period.
Devendra Bishoo broke the opening stand in the fifth over when he sent Mukhtar back for a 14-ball 40, but the dismissal failed to faze Hafeez as he hit Bishoo for two consecutive sixes. Dunk joined the six-hitting fest with successive big hits against Ashley Nurse in the sixth over.
Hafeez then completed his fity in 16 balls with a six off Ashley Nurse. Eventually he would finish on 68 off 24.
Earlier, put into bat, Aaron Finch was cleaned up in the second over by Imran Khan Jr., but Jacques Kallis held the fort for California as he dished out the first six of the match in the third over against Sohail Tanvir.
Kallis was in slog mode as he hit a six in each of the following three overs. Kallis started the seventh over with two consecutive sixes against Tanvir to bring up 100 runs on the board. Milind Kumar provided the perfect support to as the duo strung together a 96-run stand for the second wicket. Kallis batted through the innings,to guide the Knights to a challenging total of 139 for 3.
