Abu Dhabi T10: Evin Lewis slams fifty as Bangla Tigers beat New York Strikers by 19 runs in tournament opener

West
Indies
opener
Evin
Lewis
was
the
architect
of
the
Tigers’ win
as
he
smashed
a
22-ball
58,
with
seven
sixes
and
two
boundaries
to
help
post
an
impressive
total
of
131
for
5
in
10
overs.
New
York
Strikers,
despite
an
unbeaten
45
off
19
balls
with
three
boundaries
and
four
sixes
from
skipper
Kieron
Pollard,
could
not
attain
their
target.

Strikers
had
won
the
toss
and
elected
to
field.
Hazratullah
Zazai
and
Evin
Lewis
opened
for
Bangla
Tigers.
The
first
boundary
of
the
tournament
came
off
the
third
ball
from
Romario
Shepherd
when
Zazai
hit
it
past
the
short
fine
leg.
Lewis
too
hit
the
last
ball
over
the
extra
cover
for
another
boundary.

Wahab
Riaz,
who
bowled
the
second
over,
struck
with
the
second
ball
by
getting
Zazai
out
for
10,
forcing
him
to
top
edge
to
Jordon
Thompson
at
fine
leg.
Thompson
took
a
brilliant
catch
diving
full
length.
One-drop
Joe
Clarke
fell
to
the
first
ball
he
faced
from
Riaz
to
another
fine
catch,
this
time
taken
by
Eoin
Morgan
at
extra
cover.

Colin
Munro,
who
joined
opener
Lewis,
hit
the
last
ball
of
Riaz’s
over
for
a
six
over
long
leg.
Munro
continued
to
go
for
his
shots
and
hit
Jordan
Thompson
for
a
boundary
to
long-off
and
a
six
to
fine-leg.
Ravi
Rampaul,
who
was
introduced
for
the
fourth
over,
found
his
third
delivery
cut
powerfully
to
the
backward
point
boundary
by
Munro.

Lewis
completed
that
over
with
a
six
to
mid-wicket.
The
fifth
over
was
exciting
as
Lewis
hit
Nav
Pabreja
for
two
sixes,
the
first
six
off
the
second
ball
to
mid-wicket
and
the
second
one
off
the
fourth
ball
over
long
off.
Lewis
also
hit
the
last
ball
for
another
six
over
long-on.
At
the
halfway
mark,
Bangla
Tigers
were
on
a
healthy
68
for
2.

Jordan
Thompson
bowled
a
brilliant
sixth
over
allowing
Munro
to
pick
only
one
boundary
and
also
took
the
prize
wicket
of
Munro
with
the
last
ball
of
the
over.
Munro’s
innings
too
ended
with
a
fine
catch
by
Nav
Prabeja
at
short
third
man
jumping
and
pulling
off
the
catch
on
the
rebound.

Riaz
who
was
re-introduced
for
the
seventh
over
could
not
stop
Lewis
from
going
for
his
huge
shots.
He
hit
him
for
two
sixes
over
deep
square
leg.
Lewis
reached
his
half-century
in
18
balls
flicking
Shepherd
over
square
leg
for
a
six.
He
also
hit
the
next
ball
over
the
point
region
for
another
boundary.
The
total
went
past
the
100-un
mark
by
the
end
of
the
eighth
over.

Lewis’ fine
knock
of
58
came
to
an
end
when
Rampaul
got
him
out
to
the
first
ball
of
the
ninth
over,
caught
by
skipper
Pollard
at
long-on.
Rampaul
also
got
next
man
Benny
Howell
out
through
Powell’s
second
catch
at
long-off
for
1.
The
ninth
from
Rampaul
yielded
just
five
runs
and
he
took
two
wickets.
The
last
over
from
Nav
Pabreja
was
well
utilized
by
Shakib
Al
Hasan
who
hit
a
boundary
off
the
second
ball,
and
two
sixes,
one
of
the
fourth
ball
and
another
off
the
last
ball
to
give
an
impressive
total
of
131
for
5.

Chasing
a
run
rate
of
13.10,
New
York
Strikers
lost
an
early
wicket
when
UAE’s
Muhammad
Waseem
got
out
to
Shakib
Al
Hasan’s
third
ball
of
the
first
over
for
a
duck,
caught
by
his
UAE
teammate
Rohan
Mustafa
at
deep
square
leg.

It
was
another
superb
catch
of
the
day
as
he
jumped
in
time
inside
the
boundary
line
for
the
catch.
The
second
over
was
sensational
with
Jake
Ball
being
hit
for
25
runs.
Azam
Khan
began
by
hitting
the
first
ball
for
a
boundary
to
short
third
man,
the
second
delivery
pulled
for
a
six
and
the
fourth,
fifth
and
sixth
deliveries
were
also
hit
for
boundaries.

Shakib
bowled
another
brilliant
over
giving
away
only
five
runs,
and
tying
down
opener
Paul
Stirling
and
Azam
Khan.
The
fourth
over
began
with
Azam
Khan
hitting
another
six
over
square
leg
but
fell
to
the
fifth
ball
of
that
over
hitting
to
Cutting
at
mid-off.
Azam’s
13-ball
knock
of
34
had
four
boundaries
and
two
sixes.

Eoin
Morgan,
who
joined
Howell,
lasted
only
four
balls
to
score
seven
runs
as
Matheesha
Pathirana
had
him
caught
by
Howell
at
long-on.
The
fall
of
wickets
mounted
pressure
on
Strikers,
and
they
were
54
for
3
needing
to
score
at
over
15
runs
an
over.
All
eyes
turned
towards
Kieron
Pollard
to
lift
the
team
to
the
target.
He
hit
Rohan
Mustafa’s
third
delivery
of
the
sixth
over
for
a
six
over
long-on.

Mustafa
struck
to
clean
bowl
Paul
Stirling
for
7.
Pathirana
bowled
tightly
and
had
Romario
Shepherd
bowled
for
four
runs.
Thompson
hit
Pathirana’s
fifth
delivery
for
six
to
keep
the
runs
coming.

Everything
changed
after
a
fine
over
from
Rohan
Mustafa
who
clean-bowled
Thompson
out
for
7.
Though
Mustafa
was
hit
for
a
six
and
a
boundary
by
Pollard,
46
runs
were
needed
from
the
last
two
overs.

UAE’s
Umair
Ali
was
called
to
bowl
the
ninth
over.
Pollard
hit
his
third
delivery
for
a
boundary
and
fourth
for
a
six.
The
fifth
ball
saw
Akeal
Hosein
getting
run
out
by
Hazratullah
but
Pollard
hit
the
last
ball
for
a
boundary.
Fans
now
moved
to
the
edge
of
their
seats
with
28
runs
needed
off
the
last
over.

Jake
Ball
gave
away
a
leg-bye
single
to
Wahab
Riaz
off
the
first
delivery.
Pollard
hit
the
third
ball
for
a
six
to
keep
hopes
alive
but
Ball
bowled
a
brilliant
fourth
delivery
giving
no
runs
and
only
a
single
to
Pollard
off
the
fourth
ball.
Riaz
got
run
out
off
the
fifth
ball
and
Ball
gave
away
no
run
to
Pollard
after
that
thus
restricting
New
York
Strikers
to
112
for
8
in
10
overs.

Brief
scores:

Bangla
Tigers
beat
New
York
Strikers
by
19
runs.
Bangla
Tigers
131
for
5
in
10
overs
(Evin
Lewis
58,
Colin
Munro
30,
Wahab
Riaz
2
for
24,
Ravi
Rampaul
2
for
16)
New
York
Strikers
112
for
8
in
10
overs
(Azam
Khan
34,
Kieron
Pollard
45,
Matheesha
Pathirana
2
for
22,
Rohan
Mustafa
2
for
20).

Player
of
the
Match:
Evin
Lewis

Source:
Media
Release