
After
the
Bangla
Tigers
put
on
119
on
the
board
on
a
tricky
pitch,
the
Warriors
struggled
to
get
going
and
never
threatened
the
target,
losing
wickets
at
regular
intervals.
Left
arm
spinner
Tom
Hartley
proved
to
be
the
standout
performer
with
the
ball,
picking
up
two
wickets
for
just
12
runs.
Earlier,
a
96-run
2nd
wicket
partnership
between
Hazratullah
Zazai
and
Faf
Du
Plessis
had
ensured
that
the
Tigers
posted
a
challenging
total
on
the
board.
When
the
Warriors
began
their
pursuit
of
120,
Hartley
drew
first
blood
for
Tigers
by
sending
back
Kennar
Lewis
in
the
first
over.
The
Warriors
start
went
from
bad
to
worse
when
Moeen
Ali
stepped
out
to
James
Faulkner
in
the
next
over,
only
to
hear
the
stumps
behind
him
getting
rattled.
Samit
Patel
and
Rovman
Powell
got
together
but
found
the
going
tough
against
some
quality
bowling.
Powell
soon
flicked
a
loosener
on
the
leg
side
straight
into
the
hands
of
the
fine-leg
fielder.
At
the
halfway
mark,
the
innings
was
tottering
at
31/3.
With
the
run-out
of
Samit
Patel
in
the
seventh
over,
the
last
hope
of
a
fightback
from
the
Warriors
also
ended.
Umair
Ali
showed
dexterity
in
picking
up
the
slower
balls
and
launching
them
into
the
stands
but
his
cameo
of
39
from
16
balls
proved
to
be
a
case
of
too
little
too
late
for
the
Warriors.
Earlier,
The
Tigers’ innings
didn’t
take
off
smoothly
as
swashbuckling
opener
Johnson
Charles’
stint
at
the
crease
was
cut
short
by
Imran
Tahir
in
the
third
over.
After
Charles’
departure,
Zazai
was
joined
at
the
crease
by
captain
Faf
Du
Plessis
who
promoted
himself
up
the
order.
However,
the
ploy
didn’t
seem
to
work
in
the
first
few
overs
of
the
partnership
as
some
smart
bowling
and
a
difficult
pitch
to
bat
on
kept
the
duo
largely
quiet.
As
a
result,
the
Bangla
Tigers
could
only
manage
42
in
the
first
five
overs.
The
acceleration
began
from
the
seventh
over.
With
just
four
runs
from
his
first
nine
deliveries,
Du
Plessis
was
forced
to
innovate
and
scooped
Oshane
Thomas
over
long
leg
for
a
maximum.
This
was
to
prove
the
beginning
of
a
late
assault
that
the
duo
perpetrated
on
the
Warriors
bowling
attack.
Abhimanyu
Mithun’s
next
over
saw
both
the
batsmen
hit
a
six
apiece.
But
the
severest
punishment
was
reserved
for
Tahir
who
bowled
the
penultimate
over.
The
leg-spinner,
who
had
conceded
only
three
in
his
first
over,
was
struck
for
26
in
his
last
over
by
Zazai
and
Du
Plessis.
In
the
final
over,
Zazai
reached
his
half
century
thanks
to
a
dropped
chance
at
the
boundary.
A
hat-trick
of
streaky
boundaries
off
the
captain’s
bat
in
the
final
over
took
the
Tigers
to
a
challenging
119.
Brief
scores:
Bangla
Tigers
119/1
(Hazratullah
Zazai
55*,
Faf
Du
Plessis
38*
Imran
Tahir
1-29)
beat
Northern
Warriors
89/6
(Umair
Ali
39*,
Samit
Patel
15,
Tom
Hartley
2-12)
Source:
Media
Release