It was a monumental collapse for the Delhi Bulls, who lost a day ago against the Morrisville Samp Army, as they were skittled out by New York Strikers for Abu Dhabi T10 League's lowest-ever score on Monday, December 4. The famed batting line-up of the Bulls featuring the likes of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, Johnson Charles, Rovman Powell and Dwayne Bravo was shot out for a paltry 31 by the brilliance of Akeal Hosein, who registered figures of 3/7 in a chase of 99.
Hosein was into his work right from the start getting his countryman Charles in the very first over. He sent back James Vince on the very next ball to leave the Bulls reeling at 1/2. The Strikers bowlers had their tails up and Mohammad Amir in his next over didn't take much time to give Bulls their third blow in the form of Rilee Rossouw. And the collapse just continued. So it didn't matter if it was de Kock or Rovman Powell or Bravo, it became a walk in the park for the Strikers.
After Akeal's early burst, Chamika Karunaratne cleaned up the rest of the batting line-up, taking all three big wickets. Who knew in a tournament where 120-plus totals are being chased easily, a team scoring just 98 runs would win the game by 67 runs, which shows that it's all not a batter's game. If the surface has little in it for the bowlers, they will have a say.
For Strikers, it was Rahmanullah Gurbaz's unbeaten 24-ball 50 that helped them get to 98, which eventually was a winning total on that wicket at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Bulls were subjected to their second loss in a row while this was a third win for the Strikers, who are now at the top of the table with a healthy net run rate.
