Abu Dhabi T10: Dominic Drakes helps Delhi Bulls beat Team Abu Dhabi to enter final

The Delhi Bulls booked their place in the Abu Dhabi T10 final after defeating Team Abu Dhabi by 49 runs in Qualifier 2 on Friday. The Bulls will be up against the Deccan Gladiators in the final and Team Abu Dhabi will face off against Bangla Tigers in the 3rd Place Play-off on Saturday.

After the Delhi Bulls recorded a total of 109/7 in their 10 overs, Team Abu Dhabi were bowled out for 60 in 8.3 overs. Dominic Drakes was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/13.

Philip Salt and Paul Stirling began Team Abu Dhabi's innings in typical fashion, gathering 23 runs off the first over. Salt struck two boundaries and a six off the first three deliveries and Stirling smacked consecutive boundaries off Chandrapaul Hemraj's bowling. However, Dominic Drakes brought the Delhi Bulls back into the match by taking the wickets of Philip Salt and Captain Liam Livingstone in the second over. Fazalhaq Farooqi made matters worse for Team Abu Dhabi when he dismissed Stirling in the fourth over, leaving Team Abu Dhabi at 39/3.

Dominic Drakes has had a night to remember 

Joint most wickets in an #AbuDhabiT10 season
Qualified for the #Season5 final
Dream11 MVP #InAbuDhabi #CricketsFastestFormat pic.twitter.com/BB9VTltNpM — T10 League (@T10League) December 3, 2021

Romario Shepherd completely tilted the match in favour of Delhi Bulls when he removed Chris Gayle for 14 runs from 11 balls and Danny Briggs for nought in consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. Team Abu Dhabi were reduced to 44/6. Thereafter, Team Abu Dhabi kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually folded for 60.

Earlier, Sheldon Cottrell got Team Abu Dhabi off to a great start by bowling out Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the first delivery of Delhi Bulls' innings. Sherfane Rutherford tried to gain momentum for the Bulls as he struck a four and a six in the second over, however, he was dismissed by Captain Liam Livingstone for 19 runs from 8 balls in the next over. Team Abu Dhabi continued to put pressure on their opponents by picking up wickets at regular intervals. Livingstone led from the front with magnificent figures of 2/7 in his 2 overs.

How good were these two tonight 

Drakes & Farooqi had combined figures of #AbuDhabiT10 #InAbuDhabi #CricketsFastestFormat pic.twitter.com/mEc0THfJDT — T10 League (@T10League) December 3, 2021

Romario Shepherd tried to take responsibility of getting the runs for the Bulls as he smacked Marchant de Lange for consecutive boundaries in the seventh over, but he was removed by Cottrell for 26 runs from 16 balls in the ninth over. Adil Rashid's breezy cameo innings of 13 runs from 5 balls helped the Bulls post a competitive total of 109/7 in their 10 overs.

Brief scores: Delhi Bulls 109/7 (Romario Shepherd 26, Sherfane Rutherford 19, Liam Livingstone 2-7); Team Abu Dhabi 60 (Philip Salt 15, Chris Gayle 14, Dominic Drakes 4/13) by 49 runs.