Hafeez tops Sohail as Texas Chargers win US Masters T10 final via Super Over
Ehsan Adil, Ben Dunk and Sohail Tanvir played good supporting hands to make sure Chargers edged the see-saw title clash
ESPNcricinfo staff
28-Aug-2023
Ben Dunk holds aloft the trophy after leading Texas Chargers to the title • Ace Images/US Masters T10
Texas Chargers 92 (Hafeez 46, Dunk 20, Sohail 5-15, Afridi 2-8, Asif 2-14) tied with New York Warriors 92 for 6 (Carter 39*, Adil 3-11). Texas Chargers won the One-over Eliminator.
Despite playing the eliminator and a qualifier on the same day, Saturday, Texas Chargers had enough in the tank to come out on Sunday and beat New York Warriors in the final of the inaugural US Masters T10, which was so tightly contested that it required a Super Over to identify the winners.
With 92 vs 92 in the main contest, it went down to the one-over shootout, and it was between the two Sohails - Tanvir and Khan - in the end. Sohail Khan, who had earlier picked up five wickets to keep New York in the game, kept Texas to a decent 15, with Mukhtar Ahmed hitting a last-ball six. Sohail Tanvir stepped up then, and stopped New York two runs short, despite a last-ball six from Jonathan Carter.
It was entirely because of Sohail Khan that the game went into the tie-breaker. He didn't have a lot of runs to work with when he started the ninth over, with Texas on 82 for 4, needing 11 runs from two overs. Bang-bang he went, hitting the stumps to get rid of Upul Tharanga, Phil Mustard and Thisara Perera in a four-ball burst, before sending back Neil Broom off the last ball of the over. Shahid Afridi got Sohail Tanvir and Fidel Edwards in the last over then to tie the game.
Before Sohail Khan's heroics, Mohammad Hafeez built on his outstanding form, and was well supported by Ben Dunk. The two strung together a partnership of 46 runs for the second wicket, with Hafeez scoring 46 in 17 balls and Dunk 20 in 12.
Earlier, put in to bat, Warriors struggled to get any momentum going. Edwards dismissed Kamran Akmal with the first delivery of the match, and after a 30-run stand between Richard Levi and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ehsan Adil produced a two-over burst of 3 for 11 to thwart Warriors.
Carter, though, hit three sixes and three fours in a 17-ball 39 not out to give Warriors a chance, which Sohail Khan built on later, but it wasn't enough on the day.
Sohail Khan expectedly took the Player-of-the-Match award for the final, while Hafeez was awarded the Player-of-the-Tournament.