The Quetta Qavalry maintained their unbeaten run in the 2025 Abu Dhabi T10 with a thrilling one-run win over the Deccan Gladiators in a top-of-the-table clash on Thursday.

Batting first, Quetta posted 112/3, powered by a rapid 39 off 14 balls from Khawaja Nafay, supported by Evin Lewis (20 off 9) and Liam Livingstone (20 off 12). Despite disciplined bowling spells from Noor Ahmad (1/9) and Jordan Thompson (0/12), the Qavalry’s late acceleration ensured a competitive total.

In reply, Deccan lost Nicholas Pooran early, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore (15 off 9) and David Wiese (32 off 15) rebuilt the innings before wickets from Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Jawadullah and Khawaja Nafay swung momentum back to Quetta.

A powerful unbeaten 39 off 19 from Marcus Stoinis kept the Gladiators in contention, but Khuzaima Tanveer’s three-run penultimate over left Deccan needing 22 from the final six balls. Stoinis cleared the ropes twice to bring the equation down, but Afridi held his nerve with the final delivery, sealing a dramatic win and extending Qavalry’s perfect start to the tournament.

Titans fall 15 runs short in chase against Aspin Stallions

In the day’s earlier fixture, the Aspin Stallions defeated the Ajman Titans by 15 runs after restricting them to 104/6 in pursuit of 120.

The Titans began aggressively through Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 6), but lost momentum after his dismissal at 29/1. Akif Javed (2/11) removed Avishka Fernando (18 off 11) as the required rate climbed steadily.

The Stallions tightened control through Chris Green, who delivered an outstanding spell of 2/9, removing Leus du Plooy and Harbhajan Singh to leave the chase in disarray at 118/6. Sam Billings (13 off 9) attempted to stabilise the innings, but only six runs came from the final over, ending any chance of a late recovery.

The Stallions’ disciplined middle-overs bowling proved decisive in securing a comfortable victory.