Sussex quartet make mark in opening days of T10, Salt & Wiese miss out

Photo: Cricket District

Ravi Bopara, George Garton, Chris Jordan and Luke Wright have all been in action in the Abu Dhabi T10 which got underway last Thursday and has reached the half-way point of the group stage.

Ravi has been among the most destructive batsmen in the early stages of the competition, scoring 102 runs at a sensational strike rate of 237.2 in three matches for Delhi Bulls. He has been remarkably consistent with scores of 38, 28 not out and 36 and is the Bulls’ top-scorer so far. The Bulls are second in group A, behind leaders Northern Warriors on net run-rate, having won two and lost one of their first three matches. The team play their concluding three games of the group stage on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

🗣️ "T10 cricket is all about slogging"

😍 @ravibopara: pic.twitter.com/Jl1jHAuxUh

— T10 League (@T10League) January 30, 2021

CJ recorded the best bowling figures of the tournament so far by taking 3 for 8 from two overs to help his Qalandars side to a 33-run win over Deccan Gladiators on Sunday. That victory means that after three matches the Pakistani outfit have a 100% record and sit on top of Group B. CJ took also took one wicket in each of Qalandars’ opening two matches, making him the tournament’s joint leading wicket-taker at this stage. His economy rate of nine runs per over is the sixth best in the tournament among players who have bowled at least two overs. Qalandars will complete the group stages with matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

"I always enjoy the challenge of T10" 👊@AlexJordanTV catches up with @CJordan on the boundary ahead of @QalandarsT10's second game! #AbuDhabiT10 pic.twitter.com/d4dHLDrO5w

— T10 League (@T10League) January 30, 2021

Team Abu Dhabi captain, Luke Wright saw his team lose their opening two matches but bounce back with a comfortable five-wicket win over Pune Devils on Sunday night with a huge nine balls (or 5% of their innings) to spare. That gave Abu Dhabi a big boost to their net run-rate and lifted them into second place in group B as one of three teams with one win and two losses. Luke opened the batting and made 25 off 14 balls against Deccan Gladiators in Abu Dhabi’s opening encounter, but has since allowed others a chance at the top of the order. He did not bat against Qalandars on Saturday and made six from number four in Sunday’s win. Team Abu Dhabi play their final three group games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Focused. 👊@TeamADCricket have arrived and they're ready for battle! #AbuDhabiT10 pic.twitter.com/NCoTQOfPFo

— T10 League (@T10League) January 30, 2021

George Garton has been involved in some high-scoring games for Bangla Tigers, with two of their three opening matches seeing over 250 runs in total. One of those was the Tigers defeat to Delhi Bulls on Thursday in which the Bulls chased down the Tigers 128 for 2 with seven balls to spare. George’s two overs cost 20 runs, making him by far the Tigers’ most economical bowler in the match. George bowled two overs for 30 runs in the Tigers’ win over Maratha Arabians on Saturday and, with 0 for 48 from his two overs, was not alone in suffering at the hands of Nicholas Pooran in Sunday’s defeat to Northern Warriors. The West Indian smashed a barely believable 89 from 26 balls as the Warriors scored 162 for 4 on their way to a 30 run win. Bangla Tigers are third in Group A with group matches on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to follow.    

Check out the standings after the conclusion of Stage 1 of the tournament...#AbuDhabiT10 #inAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/z16v9aEl27

— T10 League (@T10League) February 1, 2021

Phil Salt and David Wiese, who were originally selected to play in the tournament by Qalandars and Bangla Tigers respectively have not made it to Abu Dhabi.

Phil was on duty with Adelaide Strikers until Friday and, with a mandatory four days of quarantine for arrivals into the UAE, would have missed much of the action in Abu Dhabi. David, meanwhile, was unable to travel due to restrictions on arrivals from South Africa.