Adil Rashid grabbed a hat-trick to lead Delhi Bulls to an emphatic 49-run win over Team Abu Dhabi at the Zayed Cricket stadium on Thursday to claim second spot in the Abu Dhabi T10 table.
The England spinner had his international teammate, and Team Abu Dhabi captain, Liam Livingstone top edging his third delivery for Rahmanullah Gurbaz to collect the catch for the first of his three wickets.
Colin Ingram and Jamie Overton both had their stumps knocked over in successive deliveries for Rashid to complete the milestone and return with 3-15 from his two overs.
Phil Salt and Livingstone briefly threatened by taking the score to 41 in 3.2 overs after Paul Stirling (1) fell in the Chandrapaul Hemraj’s opening over.
Salt, after a little cameo nine-ball 25, chipped Shiraz Ahmed's delivery to Eoin Morgan before Rashid made a dramatic turnaround for the Bulls.
Team Abu Dhabi had to score 108 to finish above the Bulls but they could muster only 86-8.
“We planned very well knowing how important this game was for us,” Dwayne Bravo, the Bulls captain, said. “We deserved to win this game as we dominated from the start. We batted well and bowled well, so I’m very proud of each and every player tonight.
“In this tournament there is no such thing as peaking at the right time because in any given day any team can win on the day as every team has quality players who can single-handedly take the game away. We had two good wins yesterday and today, which shows the character of our team.”
The Bulls now face Deccan Gladiators in Qualifier 1 and Team Abu Dhabi meet Bangla Tigers in the eliminator on Friday.
Gurbaz and Sherfane Rutherford hit half centuries and featured in a 107-run stand for the second wicket for the Bulls to post a challenging 135-5.
Gurbaz smashed six sixes and five fours in a 29-ball 69 while Rutherford thumped five sixes and three boundaries in a 22-ball 52.
Having scored 11 for the loss of opener Hemraj (1), Gurbaz and Rutherford took 14 off the third over before they opened up. The pair smashed Jamie Overton for 22 in the fourth over, Naveen ul Haq for 28 in the sixth, and Briggs for 22 in the next to raise the tempo.
Earlier, Hazratullah Zazai cracked an unbeaten 31-ball 55 and featured in an unfinished 94-run stand for the second wicket with his captain Faf du Plessis for Delhi Bulls to round off their league phase games with victory over Northern Warriors by 30 runs.
