Former Pakistan cricket team batsman Mohammad Hafeez became the biggest hero for the Texas Chargers in the US Masters T10 League playoffs, as his two brilliant innings led his team to the inaugural final vs New York Warriors.
The playoffs for the inaugural season of the US Masters T10 League was played yesterday. In the qualifier 1, it was Misbah-ul-Haq’s team New York Warriors who beat Suresh Raina’s team California Knights to book a place into the final of the US Masters T10 League.
The Eliminator of the competition was played between the 3rd and 4th placed teams, Texas Chargers and Morrisville Unity.
In the eliminator, riding on a brilliant inning from South African Obus Pienaar’s 51 runs in 25 balls and some short innings from Shehan Jayasuriya and Corey Anderson saw Morrisville put 115 runs on the board after the 10 overs.
Chasing the target, Texas Chargers got off to a flying start, Pakistan’s opening duo of Mukhtar Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez added 104 runs for the opening wicket.
While Mukhtar scored 47 runs in 24 balls, Hafeez scored 57 runs in 22 balls with a strike rate of 259. With that win, Texas qualified for the qualifier 2.
The qualifier 2 was a more intense battle. Batting first, California Knights, who lost the Qualifier 1, scored 139 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Jacques Kallis and Milind Kumar led the charge for the California side with the former scoring 56 runs in 22 balls while the latter scored 41 runs in 19 balls.
Chasing the target, Hafeez once again showcased his brilliant performance. The former Pakistan cricket team captain 68 runs in 24 balls with a strike rate of 283 and remained not out. He was once again well supported by Mukhtar Ahmed, who scored 40 runs in 14 balls.
With that win, the Texas Chargers have booked themselves a place into the Grand Finale of the inaugural edition of the US Masters T10 League and will play against New York Warriors led by Misbah-ul-Haq on the 27th of August, Sunday.
