New Delhi: The Austrian cricket team pummeled hosts Romania by seven wickets in match no. 7 of the ECI T10 Romania in Bucharest on Sunday as they successfully chased down an unimaginable 61 runs in a mere 11 deliveries and registered a flamboyant win with a ball to spare. With the chase progressing at a medium pace, Austria looked nowhere close to the target but the power-hitting of skipper Aqib Iqbal ensured them a victory.
After inviting Romania to bat first, the Austrian bowlers leaked 167 runs and could bag just two wickets in the scheduled 10-over per-side clash. The Romanian innings was highlighted by wicketkeeper-batter Ariyan Mohammed who struck an unbeaten 104 runs in 39 balls followed by opener Muhammad Moiz’s 42 runs off 14 deliveries.
Austrian run-chase
Coming out to chase the reputable target, Austria found themselves in deep trouble with the scoreboard reading 107/3 in eight overs. They still needed 61 runs to win the match in the final two overs before skipper Iqbal took it upon himself and changed the fortunes of his visiting side. Manmeet Koli turned out to be the Romanian bowler who Iqbal and Imran Asif took on as they thrashed him for 41 runs in the penultimate over, nine being extras. Koli ended up conceding 57 runs in his two-over spell.
Asif and Iqbal then took Chamalka Fernando to the cleaners, smashing him for 25 runs in his first five deliveries as they finished off the game with four balls going over the rope when they needed 20 off the final over.
Watch the historic run-chase by Austria –
Austria chase 6️⃣1️⃣ runs in last 2 overs! 🤯#EuropeanCricket #EuropeanCricketInternational #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/Y8bLptmT56
— European Cricket (@EuropeanCricket) July 15, 2024
Iqbal struck an unbeaten 72 from 19 balls laced with two fours and 10 huge sixes in what turned out to be a match-winning knock. His strike rate soared to 378.95. Meanwhile, Imran Asif scored 22 off 12 and openers Karanbir Singh and Bilal Zalmai set the tone for the chase with decent starts, scoring 30(13), and 17(7) respectively. The Austrian scoreboard read 173/3 in 9.5 overs post-win.
Austria did the unimaginable by successfully chasing down 61 runs in the final two overs against Romania in an ECI T10 clash on Sunday to defeat the hosts by seven wickets. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
