Abu Dhabi T10 Final
While talking about Dwayne Bravo, you need to consider him as "Mr.Champion", this West Indian allrounder led his Maratha Arabians franchise to the Abu Dhabi T10 title on Sunday i.e Last Night.
Bravo, who recently made an international comeback, took his franchise i.e Maratha Arabians to their First Abu Dhabi T10 trophy. Maratha Arabians comfortably beat Deccan Gladiators by eight-wickets.
Dwayne Bravo, the captain of Maratha Arabians won the toss and opted to bowl first. Deccan Gladiators were asked to bat first. Openers, skippers, middle-order batsmen totally failed and everything fell apart for Gladiators just in the final. Bhanuka Rajapaksa (23) and Asif Khan (23) were among the top scorers who could accelerate scoreboard to only 87 in the end.
Maratha Arabians showed a great overall bowling performance with Mitchell McClenaghan (1), Lasith Malinga (1), Kasun Rajitha (1), Dwayne Bravo (2) got wickets. While chasing the 88-run target, Maratha Arabian's wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton (51) smashed a fifty off 26 balls and won the game for Maratha Arabians. Deccan Gladiators' bowlers also failed and only Migael Pretorius and Zahoor Khan could manage 1 wicket each.
Only four batsmen were needed to reach the score with eight wickets in hand. Arabian's batsman and former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh did not even have to arrive on to the crease. The videos and photos of their winning moments were shared on Twitter. Now, Have a look highlights of the Final.
Dwayne "Champion" Bravo
"Officially my name modified from 'Master Champion' to 'Mr. Champion', so now you have to address me as 'Mr. Champion' okay?" - Bravo said before hailing the experience of his squad for maintaining their form throughout. He continued...
"When all of us put our thinking caps on and we come together to come up with a game plan, we stick to it. I'm the captain, yes, but it's not all my way, all my decisions. I have experienced guys who have a lot of knowledge and I lean on these guys for information and advice."
"I think that's the main reason we were so successful throughout this tournament. We lose the first game but it was a way of us learning how to play this game. It's a pattern and I think we are the only team in the tournament to play with that pattern."
One of those players Bravo has been able to rely on "Chris Lynn" who topped the league's highest run scorer's chart with 371 runs in eight innings and finished with the most runs scored in a single T10 season. He was honored with the Player of the Tournament award.
His stunning sequence included four knocks over 50, including the two highest scores in the league's history. Both of those - 91 not out against Team Abu Dhabi and 89 versus Delhi Bulls - were greater than Maratha's 88-run target in the final and while Chadwick Walton's superb 51 not out, stole the show, Lynn has been the in-form player this year.
"Most credit I must give to 'Chris' for the way he played and he showed he is still one of the best white-ball batsmen in the world," Bravo said. "The way he dominated single-handedly throughout the tournament, he put a lot of fear in the opposition and he took the leadership role as the senior batsman in our team and he led from the front."
By virtue of topping Group A and Group B respectively, it was the first time Deccan and Maratha had met. Having been put into bat first, Mohammad Shahzad got Deccan immediately up and running with four from Mitchell McCleneghan's first ball - the fourth time Shahzad has hit the opening ball for a boundary in nine innings, a run that includes three sixes - but captain Shane Watson was back in the hutch just four balls later.
It started Deccan's slide to just 87 for 7 from their 10 overs, the third-lowest total and fewest runs of any team batting first this year. It was a disappointing end to the tournament for Watson but his solitary run did take the 38-year-old's tally to 237, a record only bettered by the frankly ridiculous return of his countryman Lynn.
While Watson missed out with the bat in the final, he had an otherwise fine tournament, hitting two unbeaten half-centuries and a highest score of 75 not out.
This was the third edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. In the other third-place match, Bangla Tigers defeated Qalandars by 6 wickets to win the 3rd spot. Deccan Gladiators ended as runner-ups.
This was the third edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. In the other third-place match, Bangla Tigers defeated Qalandars by 6 wickets to win the 3rd spot. Deccan Gladiators ended as runner-ups.
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