T10 League: Pakhtoon team beats Maratha Arabians by 25 runs

SHARJAH: Afridi-led Pakhtoon team on Thursday convincingly beat Sehwag-led Maratha Arabians by 25 runs here at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the second match of the T10 Cricket League, Sports Reporter reported.

Sehwag-led Maratha Arabians won the toss and elected to field first. As the Pakhtoon team started batting, Maratha bowler Imad Wasim took 2 wickets in the first over to give them some early jolts but soon after that, Fakhar Zaman and Dawson took charge and took a number of Maratha bowlers to cleaners; Zaman scored 45 runs in just 22 balls while Dawson took 23 balls to make 44 runs.

Led by Zaman and Dawson, the team scored a massive 121 in their 10 over quota.

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Shattered by an Afridi hat-trick and continuous fall of wickets, none of Maratha batsman except for Alex Hales could score much runs. Hales scored 57 runs of just 26 balls but his quick 50 could not help his team as wickets on the other end kept falling.

Pakhtoon captain Afridi took 3 wickets on three consecutive deliveries and registered the first T10 hat-trick in his name. Pacer Sohail Khan and Irfan took 2 wickets each.

Shahid Afridi was given the ‘Man of the Match’ prize for his stellar performance.

MATCH SUMMARY

PLAYING XI

In the inaugural match of the league, Kerala Kings secured an 8-wicket victory against Bengal Tigers as Paul Stirling hit 66 off just 27 balls to chase Sarfraz-led Team’s 86-run target.

Earlier, a glamour-filled opening ceremony at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium marked the opening of the world’s first T10 league amid spectacular light show and performances by top celebrities.

The league, like the Pakistan Super League, is a franchise-based tournament but will feature the new 10-over format of the game. It features many former and current cricket stars like Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett, Dinesh Chandimal and Sarfraz Ahmed.