Phil Salt praised Team Abu Dhabi’s camaraderie after the home side made it four wins from four with a convincing eight-wicket win over Chennai Braves on Monday night.
Salt hit an unbeaten 63 from just 28 balls as Team Abu Dhabi made light of Chennai’s 132-run target. Fellow opener Paul Stirling (44) broke the back of the chase alongside Salt before the wicket-keeper batter saw his side home and the 25-year-old believes the strong spirit among the squad has been essential to building their early season momentum.
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“We’re four from four now, which is great,” said Salt. “We’ve had lads putting their hands up over the last few games and it was nice to do it myself today. We talk about going out and playing with intent, taking the game on and throwing the first punch and it’s something that we’ve done well.
“We’re all having a great time, we’re all enjoying each others’ company and I think that’s the biggest thing when you’re in a bubble like we are. We’ve got a great group of lads and hopefully we just keep rolling.”
Earlier, Ahmed Daniyal made his Team Abu Dhabi debut, taking a wicket with his very first ball.
It was a stunning start to the Abu Dhabi T10 from the 24-year-old - who ended with figures of 1-26 - and he now hopes to build on what was a dramatic introduction.
“It’s really amazing for me to be here playing for Team Abu Dhabi, and I really enjoyed the match today,” said Daniyal.
“It felt really amazing to get a wicket with my first ball, I tried my hardest to bowl really fast and I got a first wicket with my first ball. We can definitely go all the way and we will definitely be trying to win the tournament.”
Team Abu Dhabi return to action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, when they face Delhi Bulls from 6pm local time.
