Lauderhill, Florida,
Sohail Khan bagged a hat-trick and picked four wickets of as many deliveries and then Jonathan Carter
turned on the style with the bat for the New York Warriors, as they walked off with a comprehensive 6-
wicket win against the Atlanta Riders. Carter completed the chase with two sixes of the final two
deliveries of the game. Sohail Khan was awarded the Player of the Match.
Asked to bat first, the Atlanta Riders’ openers Robin Uthappa and Lendl Simmons started off things in a
steady manner. The duo took the Riders to the 50-run mark in the fifth over, having smashed 3 sixers
and 4 boundaries between themselves in that time.
The openers, well set by now, were setting up the platform to tee off in the final few overs, even as the
New York Warriors bowlers tried to dry up the runs. By the 7th over, the Riders were at 72/0 with
Simmons doing the bulk of the scoring.
Simmons was dismissed for 41 in the 8th over and the score reached 83/1 by the end of that over.
Uthappa departed for 32 after that and Dwayne Smith was joined by Hamilton Masakadza, with the
Zimbabwean becoming the next wicket to fall at the beginning of the final over.
Sohail Khan then dismissed Hammad Azam and Grant Elliot off consecutive deliveries, to complete a hat-
trick. The Pakistani bowler knocked over Harmeet Singh after that, making it four in four, after which
Smith and Nasir Hossain took the Riders over to 103/6 in their quota of 10 overs.
In response, the New York Warriors’ opener Kamran Akmal departed in the first over for 4, bringing
Richard Levi and Tillakaratne Dilshan together. Levi was the next wicket to fall in the second over, off the
bowling of Elias Sunny for 4.
That brought Dilshan and Jonathan Carter to the middle, and the Sri Lankan looked to attack, but was
dismissed in the fifth over for 24 with the Warriors at 39/3.
In walked the dangerous Shahid Afridi with 62 runs needed in the final five overs of the game. Afridi and
Carter counter-attacked after that, before the Pakistan cricketer was packed off for 14. In the final two
overs, the Warriors would need 30 runs to win and had 6 wickets in hand.
Carter and Misbah-ul-Haq brought it down to 22 off the final over. Carter smacked three sixes and
Misbah hit one, as the Warriors romped over the line to a grand finish, winning six wickets.
Brief Scores
Atlanta Riders – 103/6 (Lendl Simmons – 41, Robin Uthappa – 32; Sohail Khan – 4/15, Umaid Asif – 1/20)
New York Warriors – 109/4 (Jonathan Carter – 41*, Tillakaratne Dilshan – 24; Harmeet Singh – 2/8, Elias
Sunny – 1/19)
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