Gayle and Paul Stirling smash 97 in five overs together as Team Abu Dhabi get off to a flyer
“It’s a great way to start from a team point of view,” Gayle said. “All of the guys played their part, Stirling batted well, [Marchant] de Lange with the ball, the captain with the ball as well – everyone played their part.
“Stirlo was fantastic and we were just having fun out there. He executed well today and I think he’ll love this wicket and score a lot of runs on this wicket.”
On his own performance, Gayle added: “It’s good to be in the runs and hopefully it can continue tomorrow.”
The numbers alone spoke of carnage. Sixty runs came in the space of the fifth and sixth overs. Spare a thought for Sabir Rao who was smashed for 29 in an over and Qais Ahmed, dispatched for 31 in the next. Neither of them returned to the attack. Such is the brutality of this format, no bowler is permitted more than two overs and the last thing that du Plessis would have thought about doing would be to give Gayle and Stirling another sniff.
At the end of the sixth over, the Abu Dhabi score was a ludicrous 112 for 2 and a third of the deliveries had gone the distance: 12 sixes in 36 deliveries.
For all the talk about the importance of a toss (both sides that won the toss chose to field on opening night), given the numbers in the T20 World Cup which highlighted the value of chasing, this Team Abu Dhabi batting order will strike fear into opposition, regardless of whether they bat first or second.
Phil Salt pulled his second delivery over the midwicket fence, before getting run out off the next. And Livingstone himself thumped James Faulkner for two consecutive maximums before getting bowled by the Australian. The skipper’s dismissal simply welcomed the “Universe Boss” to the crease, who alongside Stirling wreaked havoc.
Rao was clobbered around the ground, as Gayle hammered, pulled and smeared him for three sixes in his first four legitimate deliveries. He returned with a brilliant yorker that went for a bye, only for Stirling to add to the pain by dispatching a slower delivery next ball for six more. For Rao, his first ever T10 appearance was one he’ll want to forget.
As if that wasn’t enough. Stirling added three more sixes in the next over, hammering a length delivery, flicking away a full toss, before gracefully getting down on one knee and sending one sailing over long-on. It was raining sixes in Abu Dhabi.
By the time Stirling was dismissed, the damage was already done. Despite managing to restrict Team Abu Dhabi to 145 for 4, given the start they had, the task was always going to be an uphill one for Tigers.
“It was phenomenal to watch. We back ourselves to hit sixes and thanks to Chris and Paul, we probably got 20 or 30 more than par,” Livingstone said.
For Fletcher, it was an all too familiar story seeing his fellow West Indian take the game to to the Tigers. “As we’ve got to know with Gayle, it’s do or die.” Friday night in the desert belonged to Team Abu Dhabi.