The Northern Warriors bounced back strongly with a 6-wicket win over the Deccan Gladiators at the 2025 Abu Dhabi T10, chasing down 88 with 10 balls to spare. Coming off just one win from their opening three matches, the Warriors needed a lift, and their top order delivered.

Meanwhile, Vista Riders (84/9) beat Aspin Stallions (78/9) by six runs and Quetta Qavalary (111/1) defeated the UAE Bulls (109) by nine wickets in the other two matches of the day.

Batting first, the Gladiators were jolted early as Trent Boult removed Nicholas Pooran and David Wiese off consecutive deliveries. Tom Kohler-Cadmore (58 off 31) stepped up to steady the innings, striking seven boundaries and two sixes while pushing the score to 40/2 after four overs. Just as Marcus Stoinis looked set to join him, Boult intervened again, pulling off a sharp one-handed catch off Shahid Bhutta to send Stoinis back and disrupt the momentum.

Kohler-Cadmore continued to pick off boundaries, but wickets tumbled at the other end, with Andre Russell, Laurie Evans and Jordan Thompson all falling cheaply. In the final over, Kohler-Cadmore launched two sixes to bring up a fighting half-century before departing, as the Gladiators closed on 87/7.

Chasing 88, the Warriors flew out of the blocks through Johnson Charles (41 off 17), whose four fours and three sixes powered them to 43/0 in just two overs. His dismissal to Noor Ahmad in the fourth over slowed the innings, and Muhammad Jawadullah's double strike, removing Hazratullah Zazai and Shimron Hetmyer, tightened the contest at 60/3 after five overs.

Noor Ahmad then bowled Dinesh Chandimal, but the Warriors stayed within reach of the modest target. Thisara Perera kept the innings stable before Azmatullah Omarzai finished the job, punching a boundary off Andre Russell and another off Marcus Stoinis to seal the win in 8.2 overs and hand the reigning champions a straightforward defeat.

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