Abu Dhabi T10: Morgan bails out Delhi Bulls again

There were no nail-cutters required because it was nail-biting stuff yet again at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Monday night.

Delhi Bulls captain Eoin Morgan, it seems, has a penchant for heists.

England's World Cup-winning skipper couldn't pull it off but he did manage to scamper for a double as the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 League witnessed its second tied fixture in the space of four days.

Chasing 109 for victory in their final group game against the Bangla Tigers, the Delhi Bulls needed three from the final delivery from David Wiese and Morgan (27 not out, 15 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) had a go at it and it went sky high.

The fielders converged but it fell in no man's land and Morgan raced over for two, with the Bulls skipper even looking for a third.

But new batsman Mohammad Nabi stayed put.

The Delhi Bulls began the chase with opener Muhammad Usman departing soon with just 10 runs on the board. He was caught by Ingram off Liam Plunkett.

But then, the other opener Kusal Perera and Rutherford put on 52 runs for the second wicket to take the Delhi Bulls to 62.

But twin blows - those of Perera and Rutherford - saw them fall behind. Perera was caught by Fletcher off Kevin Koththigoda but not before the left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman had made an enterprising 18-ball 43 with the help of eight boundaries and a six.

Rutherford followed soon after, falling leg before to Afghan leg spinner Qais Ahmad.

That brought the trusted pair of captain Eoin Morgan and Angelo Mathews together again. The pair guided them to safety and took them down to 28 required from the last two overs.

They managed to take 11 runs off Thisara Perera in the penultimate over, including a boundary scored by Morgan, to bring the equation down to 17 needed from the last over.

Earlier, the Delhi Bulls bowlers came up with a clinical performance to restrict the Bangla Tigers to 108 for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 10 overs.

Bangla Tigers captain Thisara Perera's decision to bat first had seemed the right call with opener Rilee Rossouw firing away.

Rossouw and his partner Andre Fletcher had taken the Bangla Tigers to 23 in a little close to two overs.

Rossouw began by spanking a wide delivery from left-arm quick David Willey for a boundary past mid-on, off the second ball of the match. Then a misfield saw Rossouw earn another four in the over.

Meanwhile, Fletcher came up with a helicopter shot to deposit Mohammad Nabi for a six over long on.

But the Afghan off-spinner got his revenge off the next ball by having the West Indian mishit the delivery. And Sherfane Rutherford lapped onto the leading edge at backward point, to give the Delhi Bulls the breakthrough they were looking for.

Nabi finished with two for 13, while Ravi Rampaul too took an identical two for 13. Ali Khan picked two for 31.

james@khaleejtimes.com