FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, CMC – Former West Indies speedster Fidel Edwards unleashed a Man-of-the-Match hat-trick to fire Texas Chargers to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over New Jersey Triton’s in the US Masters T10 here yesterday.
The 41-year-old Barbadian finished with three for five from his two overs, a spell which, coupled with Pakistani seamer Ehsan Adil’s three for 12, reduced New Jersey to 57 for nine from their 10 overs.
In reply, another Pakistani Mohammad Hafeez belted an eight-ball 27, with a four and three sixes, as Chargers motored to their target off just four overs.
Opting to bowl first at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Chargers were on top from the first over when Edwards removed opener Naman Ojha (1) and new batsman Yusuf Pathan (0) with the last two deliveries, with only two runs on the board.
First, Edwards got Ojha to miscue a pull to fine leg before having Pathan caught down the leg-side, pulling at another short delivery.
Adil then sliced through the middle order, accounting for the likes of former West Indies stars Chris Barnwell (9) and Danza Hyatt (10), before Edwards returned to complete his hat-trick with the first ball of the penultimate over, when he bowled Bipul Sharma for one.
Another former West Indies player, all-rounder Jonathan Carter, also starred on Tuesday as he helped power New York Warriors to victory over Dwayne Smith and Lendl Simmons’s Atlanta Riders by six wickets at the same Lauderhill venue.
Asked to chase 104 for victory, Warriors got over the line in a dramatic finish when the left-handed Carter lashed the final two deliveries of the game for sixes, with seven runs required.
With Warriors needing 22 from the final over, Carter blasted the first delivery from pacer Kamrul Islam for six before former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq (15 not out) followed up with another six off the third legitimate delivery, to further reduce the arrears.
The 35-year-old Carter finished unbeaten on a 19-ball 41 which included two fours and four sixes, posting 42 with Misbah for the fifth wicket. Earlier, Simmons top-scored with 41 from 23 deliveries at the top of the order, putting on 81 for the first wicket with captain Robin Uthappa who struck 32 off 24 balls.
Smith finished on three not out as wickets tumbled around him, largely due to fast bowler Sohail Khan’s four-wicket haul.
In the other game played, Twenty20 legend Chris Gayle managed only 16 but his Morrisville Unity beat a California Knights side – featuring Ricardo Powell, Ashley Nurse and Denesh Ramdin – by seven wickets after overhauling a target of 101 with seven balls to spare.
