T10: Faf du Plessis hints at international comeback

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Morrisville Samp Army’s Faf du Plessis might come out of international retirement to earn a chance to play in the T20 World Cup next year.

Ahead of Samp Army’s Abu Dhabi T10 clash against Bangla Tigers on Tuesday, the 39-year-old South African star said he is still fit enough to play at the highest level.

"I believe that I can return to international cricket as well. We have been speaking about this for the last couple of years. It's just about figuring out the balance of the T20 World Cup next year. It's certainly something we have spoken about with the new coach," Du Plessis said.

"I do a lot of hard work to ensure I look after my body to be able to play this brilliant game we love so much. When you do get a little bit older, you have to make sure you put in the work.

"Otherwise, the hamstring and other body parts do not work that well. There is a lot of fast running and a lot of stuff to make sure that level where you can play against the best players in the world.”

Meanwhile, Qais Ahmad and Salman Irshad bowled Morrisville Samp Army to a six-wicket win over Bangla Tigers.

While Ahmad bagged three wickets for 14 runs, Irshad took three wickets for 12 runs. They were backed by Karim Janat with two wickets for four runs. Bangla Tigers who were asked to bat first, got all out for 82 in 10 overs.

Chasing the target, Andries Gous hit a breezy 42 off 20 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Later, skipper Moeen Ali with an unbeaten 12 and Najibullah Zadran (13 not out), steered Samp Army to the target in 8.2 overs.

Meanwhile, New York Strikers’ opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s knock of 41 and Sunil Narine’s spell of 2 for 16 pushed Team Abu Dhabi to their sixth defeat in six matches through a 24 runs win.

Though Abu Dhabi won the toss and elected to bowl, Gurbaz took the match away from them scoring 41 runs off 26 balls with eight boundaries and putting on a 62 runs opening partnership in 5.4 overs with Muhammad Waseem (23).

Noor Ahmed bowled brilliantly to take three wickets for 23 runs but New York managed a total of 110 for 5 in 10 overs.

Abu Dhabi batters once again failed to take up the challenge. Except for Asif Khan who hit 39 runs off 20 balls with four sixes and two boundaries and opener Kyle Mayers (22) none of the other batters played any big shots. Sunil Narine lead the tight bowling with two wickets for 16 runs.

New York Strikers moved to the second slot with this victory with eight points.

In another match on Tuesday, Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s blistering knock of 69 off just 19 balls studded with a shower of eight sixes and four boundaries, and Nuwan Thushara’s deadly four-wicket spell blew away Northern Warriors by eight wickets.