A combined bowling performance led by captain Dwayne Bravo and a half-century from Chadwick Walton took Maratha Arabians to an eight-wicket victory over Deccan Gladiators in a one-sided final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here.
Bravo and his bowling entourage were economical as the Gladiators were restricted to 87 for 8 in their 10 overs, a total eclipsed smoothly by the rampaging Arabians’ top order.
Walton, the opener, employed his drives and cuts and in the company of Chris Lynn, Adam Lyth and Najibullah Zadran, took the team home in the eighth over. Lynn did not dazzle for once; going for his third six, he was caught at long-on for 16 in the fourth over. Lyth was out soon after but Walton carried serenely on.
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Gladiators found no momentum in its innings after having been inserted in. The swashbuckling duo of Shane Watson and Mohammad Shahzad had been dismissed by the third over. Kieron Pollard also fell quickly, before a 35-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Asif Khan steadied the ship.
The final flourish, however, was missing, and it hurt the team badly.
Third place for Bangla Tigers
Andre Fletcher struck a rapid half-century to help Bangla Tigers overcome Qalandars in a close third-place playoff. Chasing 110, the Tigers were cruising at 73 without loss in the sixth over before a slight hiccup derailed the chase and took the contest to a nailbiting final over. Eventually, a six from captain Thisara Perera off the first ball he faced sealed the six-wicket win.
Qalandars’ innings was engineered by captain Dawid Malan, Luke Ronchi, Peter Trego and Philip Salt, all of whom got starts. All of the bowlers, with the exception of Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya were expensive. Jayasuriya’s spell of 2 for 14 in the allotted two overs helped check the scoring rate.
The total appeared inadequate when Fletcher and Rossouw plundered Qalandars’ bowlers. The duo collected six sixes between them, two more than the Qalandars had in their entire innings. At 94 for 1 in the eighth over, a win seemed there for the taking, but No. 3 Tom Moores and Fletcher departed in quick time to leave their team needing 13 from eight balls and with two new batsmen in the crease.
Colin Ingram hit a six off the first ball he faced – a solid, clean hit down the ground off Jordan Clark – to bring the equation down to seven from seven. He was dismissed soon after, in the final over bowled by seamer Peter Trego, as he attempted another slog to take his team home.
The winning runs, instead, arrived off the fourth ball of that over when Perera hammered a low full-toss straight for a flat six.
Brief scores
Final: Deccan Gladiators 87 for 8 in 10 overs (Asif Khan 25 n.o., Bhanuka Rajapaksa 23, Dwayne Bravo 2 for 16) lost to Maratha Arabians 89 for 2 in 7.2 overs (Chadwick Walton 51 n.o.) by eight wickets.
Third-place playoff: Qalandars 109 for 3 in 10 overs (Philip Salt 30 n.o., Dawid Malan 24, Prabath Jayasuriya 2 for 14) lost to Bangla Tigers 113 for 4 in 9.4 overs (Andre Fletcher 52, Rilee Rossouw 31) by six wickets.
(The writer is in Abu Dhabi on an invitation from Abu Dhabi T10 League)
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