New York Warriors beat Texas Chargers to leapfrog over their opponents into the lead for the US Masters T10 league on Thursday. The Warriors registered their fourth victory of the competition when they trumped the Chargers outfit by a six-run margin at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida.

Texas Chargers had to make way later for California Knights who displaced them into third position with a victory by five runs over Atlanta Riders in a later game as the league heads to an exciting tussle for the play-offs.

New York Warriors put up 115/5 in their 10 overs before restricting Texas Chargers to 109/8. The latter went down fighting in chasing the tough target. Abdur Rehman got New York off to a great start as he dismissed both Mohammed Hafeez and Upul Tharanga in the first over of the chase.

Thereafter, Skipper Ben Dunk and Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera scored 16 and 19 runs respectively. Both of them showcased good form, but could not play a long innings as Texas were struggling at 71/7 in 6.2 overs. However, Phil Mustard and Sohail Tanvir produced a rearguard action that almost saw the Texas team pull off victory from the jaws of defeat. The action remained alive till the last ball when Texas required seven runs, but Tanvir got caught out at the long-on boundary, much to the relief of the New York side.

Earlier in the day, Texas won the toss and chose to bowl first. Tanvir picked up two wickets in the seventh over as New York were reduced to 58/5. Thereafter, captain Misbah Ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq joined forces to smash 57 runs in the last 21 balls of the innings.

Razzaq produced an unbeaten knock of 35 runs from 14 balls that included 4 sixes and a boundary to take his team to 115/5 in their 10 overs.

Brief scores: New York Warriors 115/5 (Abdul Razzaq 35*, Shahid Afridi 18, Sohail Tanvir 2/14) beat Texas Chargers 109/8 (Phil Mustard 21*, Thisara Perera 19, Abdur Rehman 3/29) by 6 runs.

Irfan Pathan denies Atlanta Riders in win for California Knights

California Knights prevailed over Atlanta Riders in a final-over drama with Irfan Pathan rolling back the clock with his accurate bowling in the US Masters T10 League in Florida.

Atlanta needed nine runs off the last over against California Knights, but former India left-arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan conceded just three runs as California won by five runs at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium. The California Knights posted 94/2 in their 10 overs before restricting the Atlanta Riders to 89/4.

Robin Uthappa got Atlanta Riders off to a great start with two boundaries and a six. However, he was dismissed by Peter Siddle for 16 runs off nine balls in the second over. Thereafter, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith strung a 47-run partnership to take the Riders’s score to 66/2 in 7.3 overs.

Hamilton Masakadza put the Riders in the driver’s seat with two fours and a six off Ben Laughlin’s bowling in the ninth over. But Pathan put his hand up and saved the day for the Knights.

Earlier in the day, California won the toss and chose to bat first. Amila Aponso dismissed Aaron Finch (2) in the second over. However, Milind Kumar upped the ante with a four and a six in the same over. Jacques Kallis also joined the party as he smashed three boundaries off Kamrul Islam in the third over.

But, Milind fell to Mohammad Irfan for 19 runs off 12 balls in the fifth over, leaving the Knights at 42/2. Thereafter, Jacques Kallis and Ricardo Powell strung an unbeaten partnership of 52 runs to take the score to 94/2 in their 10 overs. Kallis scored 38 off 27 balls, while Powell notched 33 off 18 balls.

Brief scores: California Knights 94/2 (Jacques Kallis 38*, Ricardo Powell 33*, Mohammad Irfan 1/19) beat Atlanta Riders 89/4 (Lendl Simmons 37, Hamilton Masakadza 20, Peter Siddle 2/15) by 5 runs.