The Ben Dunk-led Texas Chargers won the inaugural edition of the US Masters T10 competition as they got the better of New York Warriors in a thrilling one-over eliminator on Sunday, August 27. Chargers won the toss and chose to field first in the summit clash. A disciplined bowling effort from Chargers was enough to put pressure on the frontline batters of Warriors as they struggled to push the run rate.
Barring Tillakaratne Dilshan and Richard Levi none of the top batters threatened to take the game away from Chargers and it allowed the Ben Dunk-led side to dictate the flow of the game up front. Just when it seemed like that Warriors were going to post a paltry total on board, Jonathan Carter came to their rescue.
Carter played an outrageous knock and hammered 39 runs off just 17 balls to bring the Misbah-ul-Haq-led side back on track. His power-packed knock included three fours and three sixes and came at a strike rate of 229.41.
Right-arm pacer Ehsan Adil was the pick of Chargers bowlers as he bagged a three-for and gave away merely 11 runs in his quota of two overs at a superb economy rate of 5.50. His wickets column dazzled brightly with the prized scalps of Dilshan, Levi and allrounder Shahid Afridi.
One of the major highlights of Chargers' chase turned out to be Mohammad Hafeez's breathtaking knock as he powered his way to 46 off just 17 balls with the help of four fours and four sixes. His knock came at a strike rate of an eye-popping strike rate of 270.58 and kept Chargers in the hunt as long as he stayed in the middle. He was also awarded the Player of the Tournament for scoring 210 runs and taking seven wickets. Sohail Khan almost derailed the chase as the right-arm pacer bagged a five-for and walked away with the Player of the Match award in the end.
The match went into the one-over eliminator and Chargers aggregated 15 after batting first. Needing 16 to win the title, the pair of Carter and Afridi went hard at Sohail Tanvir but the left-arm pacer managed to restrict the duo to 13 and guided his team to a memorable win.
