Dwayne Bravo-led team Maratha Arabians clinched their first-ever T10 trophy courtesy a comfortable eight-wicket win over Deccan Gladiators in the final of the Abu Dhabi T10 league on Sunday.
Chadwick Walton became the Player of the Match, whereas Chris Lynn was declared Player of the Series.
Earlier, Bravo won the toss and opted to bat in the final match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Arabians — who boasted players like Yuvraj Singh, Lasith Malinga, Chris Lynn and others — restricted Gladiators to 88 in their allotted 10 overs before chasing down the target in 7.2 overs.
Gladiators’ Mohammad Shahzad got them immediately up and running with four from Mitchell McCleneghan’s first ball. He hit a total of three boundaries but failed to convert his good start and became the victim of Lasith Malinga.
Wickets fell in regular intervals for the Gladiators and they could manage only 87 for 7 in 10 overs, the third-lowest total and fewest runs of any team batting first this year.
Arabians then went on to chase the target without any hiccups as wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton smashed an unbeaten 51 from 26 balls and helped the team chase down the target with eight wickets in hands and 16 balls to spare.
“It was a very special performance. I will officially change my name now to Mr. Champion,” Bravo said after the win. “Each of us deserve this victory. It was a change to play against the defending champions who have a fabulous team. Guys like Malinga and me came up with a plan and forced teams to beat us against that plan,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj, who made his T10 debut in this edition of the league, said: “It was a fast event, a big experience for me. If other countries play some T10, they’ll get used to it.”
Brief scores: Deccan Gladiators 88 for 7 (Asif Khan 25, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 23; Dwayne Bravo 2 for 16), Maratha Arabians 89 for 2 (Chadwick Walton 51*, Chris Lynn 16; Migael Pretorius 1 for 16)