Pooran's shower of sixes help Northern Warriors drown Bangla Tigers

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Nicholas Pooran played a blinder against Bangla Tigers. — Supplied photo
Nicholas Pooran played a blinder against Bangla Tigers. — Supplied photo

Abu Dhabi - Pooran’s power-packed innings of 89 off just 26 balls

By Team KT

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Published: Sun 31 Jan 2021, 9:19 PM

Northern Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran said that a first century in the Alubond Abu Dhabi T10 League hadn’t crossed his mind and added that the most important thing was reaping the two points.

Pooran’s power-packed innings of 89 off just 26 balls with 12 sixes and three boundaries helped Northern Warriors post the highest score of this edition and the second-highest score of the competition as they outplayed the Bangla Tigers in the Group A fixture on Sunday.


It was a shower of sixes from Pooran as the Northern Warriors racked up 162-4 at Zayed Cricket Stadium. The Bangla Tigers chased bravely through their skipper Andre Fletcher, who hit 53 runs off 28 balls with four boundaries and four sixes. He was well backed by UAE’s Chirag Suri, who hit an unbeaten 42 off 16 balls with five sixes, but they fell short of the target by 30 runs.

“To be honest, not really,” replied Pooran when asked if he was disappointed not to get a first-ever hundred in the format.


“At the end of the day, if I had known that I was going to make 89, I would take it. At the end, yes, thinking over, maybe it could have happened. So, a bit disappointed but very happy that we got the two points, which is most important.,” he added.

The highest individual score in the League is by Australian Chris Lynn who smacked an unbeaten 91 from 30 balls for the Maratha Arabians against Team Abu Dhabi.

“I didn’t know at that time but I had a feeling that Chris Lynn had made 90 something last year, but that was not on my mind, to be honest. Maybe, next time I’m batting and if I’m that close, maybe I’ll think about it,” said Pooran.

Meanwhile, Suri said: “Credit to the Norther Warriors, especially Pooran. He’s an exceptional talent, we already know that and when he gets going, you just got to be fetching the balls from outside the park. We didn’t execute our plans well. If we had given a few less, you never know, we got quite close in the end. So, we kept believing and we wanted to get as close to the target as possible.”

The Northern Warriors got off to a quick start picking 17 runs off the first over with opener Waseem Muhammad hitting two sixes off Mohammad Irfan. In the second over, Mujeeb Ur Rehman had Waseem out for 12 getting him caught at long-on.

Then Nicholas Pooran walked in and began hitting right away. He hit George Garton for a six and Simmons too hit a six to pick 16 runs off that over.

Qais Ahmed, who bowled the fourth over, was hit for 23 runs. It included Pooran’s three sixes and one boundary. Though Simmons hit Karim Janat for a six, only 13 runs came off that over. The sixth over saw Pooran in full flow hitting Mohammad Irfan for three successive sixes. Pooran raced to his half-century in the seventh over off 17 balls.

When Garton was re-introduced for the eighth over, Pooran hit him for four successive sixes and two boundaries to take 32 runs off that over. Karim Janat removed Lendl Simmons by having him caught at long-off for 41. He also ended Pooran’s knock by having him caught by Andre Fletcher at extra cover off the next ball. That over yielded just five runs. In the last over from Qais Ahmed, Rovman Powell hit a boundary and a six to remain unbeaten on 13.

Chasing the mammoth score of 162, Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz struck a huge blow when he clean bowled Johnson Charles for a duck with the third ball. In the second over, Andre Fletcher hit Junaid Siddiqui for a boundary and a six. Afif Hossain too picked his first boundary in that over. Fletcher began to stroke freely hitting Riaz for two successive boundaries. In the fourth over, Fletcher became more aggressive hitting Ryan Emrit for two successive sixes. Fabian Allen had Hossain caught by Powell at deep mid-wicket. UAE’s Chirag Suri joined Fletcher and at halfway, Bangla Tigers needed another 113 runs from the last 30 balls.

Wayne Parnell, who took a hat-trick in his last match, bowled the sixth over and gave away just seven runs. Suri lifted Allen for two consecutive sixes off the first and second deliveries of the eighth over. He also lifted the fourth delivery for another six to take 31 runs off that over.

Emrit was introduced again to bowl the ninth over. Fletcher lifted Emrit over long-on and reached his half-century in 22 balls. Bangla Tiger went past the 100 run mark through Suri’s elegant six over the point off Emrit. With 49 runs needed off the last six balls, Junaid Siddiqui trapped Fletcher leg before for 33 to end their chase. Suri remained unconquered with a quick 42.

Brief scores:

Northern Warriors: 162-4 in 10 overs (Lendl Simmons 41, Nicholas Pooran 89, Karim Janat 2-18) beat Bangla Tigers: 132-3 in 10 overs (Andre Fletcher 53, Chirag Suri 42 not out) by 30 runs.

Man of the match: Nicholas Pooran.


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