US Masters T10 League: Mohammad Hafeez, Thisara Perera help Texas Chargers knock Morrisville Unity

Lauderhill, Florida, 26 August 2023: The former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez was in sublime form with the bat, and played a blinder as the Texas Chargers defeated Morrisville Unity by eight wickets in the Eliminator, in the inaugural edition of the US Masters T10. The Chargers won with nine balls remaining.

The Texas Chargers play the California Knights in Qualifier 2 after this game, for a berth in the final. The New York Warriors have already made it to the final.

Batting first, the Morrisville Unity lost Jonathan Foo (9) early on, but had Shehan Jayasuriya and Obus Pienaar kick on. The duo scored at a quick pace and put on a 42-run stand before Jayasuriya was castled for 21, just before the midway point.

Pienaar and Corey Anderson set about their task of getting runs quickly after that, taking the score to 88/2 after 7 overs. The platform was set for the batters to tee off in the final overs. In the 9^th over, Pienaar completed his fifty as the Unity score surged over the 100-run mark.

Anderson lost his wicket for 22 in the final over, but only after he and Pienaar had put on a half-century stand. Unity eventually finished with 115/5, as they lost Pienaar and Navin Stewart’s wickets in the final over too.

In response, Mohammad Hafeez and Mukhtar Ahmed gave the Texas Chargers a flying start. Hafeez got stuck into Sreesanth’s second over and smashed two sixes and three fours, as the Chargers motored along in the early phase.

By the end of the fourth over, six maximums and five fours were hit by the openers, and the score was at 66/0, as more than half the target had been knocked off. At the halfway stage, the Chargers needed 34 more to win with Hafeez looking good, and the openers marching on towards a century-stand. Hafeez completed his fifty in the sixth over, and in the next over, the openers reached the century stand.

Right after, Hafeez was dismissed for 57 and Ahmed for 47, both by Navin Stewart, slowing down the Chargers a bit. Nonetheless, it was up to Ben Dunk after that and he smashed two sixes to wrap up the contest.  

Brief Scores:

Morrisville Unity – 115/5 (Obus Pienaar – 51, Corey Anderson – 22; Thisara Perera – 4/17, Imran Khan – 1/17) lost by 8 wickets against the Texas Chargers – 119/2 (Mohammad Hafeez – 57, Mukhtar Ahmed – 47; Navin Ahmed – 2/3)