Deccan Gladiators 104 for 2 (Kohler-Cadmore 69*) beat Northern Warriors 100 for 6 (Neesham 31, Thushara 4-12) by eight wickets
Samp Army's reign at the top of the points table proved to be shortlived, as Tom Kohler-Cadmore's whirlwind 19-ball 69 not out on the back of Nuwan Thushara's 4 for 12 catapulted Deccan Gladiators to the No. 1 spot on Tuesday evening in the Abu Dhabi T10. It was Northern Warriors who bore the brunt of the two-man show as they went down by eight wickets in what was their fourth loss on the bounce.
Thushara struck with his second and fourth deliveries of the day, taking out Kennar Lewis and Hazratullah Zazai. Josh Cobb was run-out on the fifth ball of that over as Warriors slipped to 13 for 3 after two. Angelo Mathews and Jimmy Neesham added 50 runs for the fourth wicket but took 34 balls to do it. Thushara returned to send back Mathews and Azmatullah Omarzai in his second over to finish with the best bowling figures in the competition this year so far.
Rahul Chopra and Neesham then got a few big hits away to drag Warriors to 100 for 6 in ten overs.
Kohler-Cadmore, though, made a mockery of the target. He hacked Mathews for four sixes in the first over of the chase, followed it up by whacking Omarzai for three successive fours, and then hammered Tabraiz Shamsi for one four and three sixes. En route, he brought up his fifty off just 13 balls.
It took Gladiators all of 6.1 overs to chase down the target with Kohler-Cadmore's strike rate a barely believable 363.15, with four fours and eight sixes.
Qais and Irshad bowl Samp Army to victory
Samp Army 85 for 4 (Gous 42, Howell 1-8) beat Bangla Tigers 82 (Cox 27, Irshad 3-12, Qais 3-14, Janat 2-4) by six wickets
Miserly three-wicket hauls from Qais Ahmad and Salman Irshad, backed up by Andries Gous' 20-ball 42 helped Samp Army down Bangla Tigers by six wickets and extend their winning streak to four games. The win also saw them move to eight points after five matches.
After Samp Army elected to field, Jason Holder struck in his first over, but Jordan Cox lay into the bowlers before Qais and Co. derailed their innings. Qais first took out Cox last ball of the fifth over, and Karim Janat picked up two wickets in the next. Qais then sent back Dominic Drakes and Daniel Sams off successive balls, while Irshad picked up two wickets in an over of his own as Tigers slipped from 36 for 1 to 59 for 8 in 22 balls. Benny Howell (11* off six balls) and Rohan Mustafa (11 off eight) pushed Tigers to 82 before they were bowled out off the final ball of the innings.
In reply, Samp Army lost Faf du Plessis early, but Gous smashed Sams for two fours in the first over before taking Shannon Gabriel for two fours and two sixes. Gabriel, who had on Monday picked up 2 for 2, went for 26 in just his first over. Samp Army did lose their way a bit in the middle overs, but Gous' whirlwind knock countered that.
Captain Moeen Ali and Najibullah Zadran provided the finishing touches, taking Samp Army home with ten balls to spare.
Gurbaz, Smith and Narine keep Team Abu Dhabi waiting for victory
New York Strikers 110 for 5 (Gurbaz 41, Waseem 23, Smith 17*, Noor 3-23) beat Team Abu Dhabi 85 for 5 (Asif 39, Mayers 22, Narine 2-16) by 24 runs
Team Abu Dhabi slumped to their sixth defeat in six games as New York Strikers registered a comfortable win that took them to eight points from five matches thanks to impressive performances from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Muhammad Waseem, Odean Smith and Sunil Narine.
Gurbaz and Waseem put on a 62-run opening stand to give Strikers a strong start. Waseem made 23 off 14 before picking out square leg off Noor Ahmad.
That triggered a slide of five wickets for 27 runs but Smith (17* off 7) and Kieron Pollard (8* off 4), captaining in Nicholas Pooran's absence, ensured a powerful finish for Strikers.
The West Indies spin duo of Narine and Akeal Hosein then put more pressure on Abu Dhabi. Hosein and Mohammad Amir bowled a tight first two overs before Narine removed Tom Banton and Leus de Plooy in a double-wicket maiden.
Hosein got rid of Abu Dhabi impact sub Colin Ingram for a first-ball duck in the next over to consolidate Strikers' grip on the match. Kyle Mayers and UAE's Asif Khan put on a 51-run stand to try and revive Abu Dhabi, but the asking rate continued to soar.
Mayers was run out in the seventh over and Muhammad Jawadullah dismissed Asif in the ninth to effectively finish the game off.