Lauderhill, Florida: The Atlanta Riders put on a splendid performance on Wednesday, as they swatted away the challenge of the New Jersey Triton’s by 48 runs. The Triton’s did not have a good day with the bat and were bowled out for 53, losing the contest with an over to spare. Hamilton Masakadza was the Player of the Match.

Batting first, the Atlanta Riders lost their captain Robin Uthappa off the first ball for a duck, after which Lendl Simmons (5) and Dwayne Smith (7) followed suit. At 3/19 in the fourth over, the Riders were in a spot of bother.

Hamilton Masakadza and Hammad Azam were in the middle after that, and steadied the ship for the Riders. The duo put on a 72-run stand for the Riders, with the Zimbabwean narrowly missing out on a half-century.

Azam, who smashed a flurry of sixers during his knock, finished with an unbeaten 38 to his name, as the Riders posted 101/5 in their quota of 10 overs.

In response, the New Jersey Triton’s lost both the openers in the first over, as Gautam Gambhir (0) and Naman Ojha (1) were knocked over by Kamrul Islam. In the second over, Harmeet Singh dismissed Jesse Ryder, and then packed off Cameron Delport for 1, as the first two overs produced 4 wickets for the Riders.

Yusuf Pathan and Chris Barnwell tried to steady the ship after that, but the latter was the fifth wicket to fall in the fifth over, with the score at 33/5. By the end of the fifth over, the Triton’s lost Yusuf for 18, and were 6 down, putting the Riders in the driving seat.

After that, the Triton’s continued to find it difficult as the likes of Peter Trego (9), Liam Plunkett (3), Bipul Sharma (4) and RP Singh (0), all fell quite quickly, allowing the Atlanta Riders to register a big win.

Brief Scores:

Atlanta Riders – 101/5 (Hamilton Masakadza – 43, Hammad Azam – 38*; Peter Trego – 2/29, Bipul Sharma – 1/8) won by 48 runs against New Jersey Triton’s – 53 (Yusuf Pathan – 18, Chris Barnwell – 11; Elias Sunny – 2/4, Harmeet Singh – 2/9)