Muhammad Waseem’s defiant hit sends New York Strikers to final in T10 League

• Muhammad Waseem’s undefeated 36 pushed New York Strikers to the target with nine balls to spare.
• David Miller smashed a six dragging Jordan Thompson backward square-leg.
• Mahesh Theekshana clean-bowled Paul Stirling in second over. Samp Army were 81-9 in 10 overs.

New York Strikers won Qualifier 1 of the Abu Dhabi T10 by four wickets over Samp Army on Saturday.

Muhammad Waseem’s undefeated 36 helped New York Strikers win. Samp Army was restricted to 81 for 9 by New York Strikers’ bowlers.

Waseem’s brave undefeated 36 pushed New York Strikers to the target with nine balls to spare. Waseem’s 16-ball hit included three fours and three sixes.

New York Strikers won and fielded. Samp Army lost two wickets in Akeal Hosein’s opening over. Johnson Charles, who went for a big shot to mid-wicket, was clean bowled for 1 with the fourth ball, and Karim Janat was clean bowled with the next ball.

Moeen Ali blasted Matiullah Khan’s second ball of the second over over extra cover. Basil Hameed first sixed Matiullah. Over yielded 15 runs.

In Hosein’s third over, Moeen and Basil couldn’t take risks. Hosein would have bowled Moeen with his fifth ball if Jordan Thompson hadn’t dropped the catch at long-on. In that over, Hosein allowed 4 runs.

Ravi Rampaul bowled Basil Hameed for 9 in the next over. Moeen Ali was caught by Thompson, who had earlier dropped him, off Rampaul’s fourth delivery for 12.

Thompson caught Dwaine Pretorius off Rashid Khan with a spectacular throw. The ball flew over Thompson’s head for a six. Pretorius scored another six off Rashid Khan’s third ball. Samp Army was 46-4 at halftime.

When Pretorius was caught at long-off off Thompson for 15, half of Samp Army was back in the dugout. David Miller hit his first ball past extra cover.

Shimron Hetmyer was run out for 1 by Paul Stirling. Chamika Karunaratne hit a boundary off Rashid Khan’s seventh ball.

Wahab Riaz caught Karunaratne at long-on for 5 in the eighth over. David Miller smashed a six dragging Thompson backward square-leg but fell to Matiullah Khan at point for 13.

Wahab Riaz’s last over gave 6 runs. Sheldon Cottrell was caught at short third man off the penultimate ball of his innings. Samp Army was 81-9 in 10 overs.

Eoin Morgan and Paul Stirling led NY Strikers’ chase. Morgan smashed three sixes in the opening over off Cottrell. First six over long-on, second over mid-wicket. In the second over, Mahesh Theekshana clean-bowled Stirling.

Muhammad Waseem blasted Theekshana’s penultimate delivery for a six over extra cover after his unbroken 45 on Friday. Karim Janat clean bowled Morgan for 14 in the third over.

Waseem smashed Pretorius’s third ball over long-off. Azam Khan struck Pretorius’ fifth ball for a boundary.

In the fifth over, Theekshana scored twice. Azam Khan was caught at long-off by Karunaratne for 12 and Jordan Thompson was caught behind by Johnson Charles.

Waseem kept scoring despite losing wickets. He smashed Karim Janat for a six to long-off and a boundary off the next ball. Waseem hit boundaries off the fifth and sixth ball to score 18 in 24 balls.

Karunaratne bowled Kieron Pollard for a duck in the sixth over. Rashid Khan’s mid-wicket boundary eased anxiety.

NY Strikers needed 11 runs in 3 overs. Rashid Khan got a boundary off Cottrell to cut the gap, but he was caught behind for 9 with 7 needed in 13 balls.

Hosein struck Karunaratne’s third delivery of the ninth over through the covers for a boundary. Waseem won with 36.

New York Strikers beat Samp Army by 4 wkts. New York Strikers 82-6 in 8.3 overs (Akeal Hosein 2-7, Ravi Rampaul 2-6, Jordan Thompson 2-17) (Muhammad Waseem 36 n.o, Maheesh Theekshana 3-12). Muhammad Waseem was MVP.