Moeen, du Plessis get Samp Army first win; Shamsi, Zazai help Northern Warriors top table
Written by I Dig SportsNorthern Warriors 106 for 0 (Zazai 52*, Lewis 46*) beat Team Abu Dhabi 103 for 7 (Banton 33, Shamsi 2-17) by 10 wickets
Abu Dhabi started off on the right note when their English openers Tom Banton and Alex Hales raced to 39 in under four overs but Shamsi truck to have Banton hole out off a slog sweep. Once Colin Ingram fell for 10 two overs later, Abu Dhabi struggled to get sizeable partnerships going as Shamsi removed Hales as well and only one of their next four batters dismissed reached double digits. Asif Khan scored a quick 19 off seven with two sixes to help Abu Dhabi reach 103 for 7.
Lewis and Zazai crossed that target with an over to spare, facing 27 balls each of which 10 reached the boundary rope and five went over. While Lewis remained not out on 46, Zazai reached his fifty with a winning six over long-on.
Janat, Moeen, Gous, du Plessis get Samp Army off the mark
Samp Army 99 for 3 (Gous 43, du Plessis 31) beat Chennai Braves 97 for 7 (Asalanka 31, Janat 2-15, Moeen 2-17) by seven wickets
Jason Holder and Janat first combined to reduce Braves to 6 for 2 in the second over before three wickets in the fifth over, including a run out, placed them on 27 for 6. Charith Asalanka, however, smoked a counter-attacking 31 off 13 before unbeaten cameos from Aayan Afzal Khan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa stretched them to a more respectable total, even as Holder finished with stunning figures of 2-0-8-1.
Gous and du Plessis scored at a good clip at the top and even though du Plessis and Moeen fell in successive overs, the quick start meant Samp Army needed 30 runs off the last three, which Najibullah Zadran ensured they scored by hitting a winning six on the penultimate ball of the game.