Final, T10 League
Shakib's Kerala Kings win the T10 League
On a busy night of the T10 League at Sharjah, Kerala Kings
and Punjabi Legends went on the field once again in order to decide the
ultimate winner of the tournament. In the final match of the competition, Kerala
Kings won by 8 wickets with 12 ball remaining.
Both sides were in the same group during the group stage. In
the 5th match of the league, the face-off between these teams had resulted
in Punjabi Legends’ victory.
Winning the toss tonight, Kerala Kings decided to field
first. Batting first, Punjabi Legends registered a total of 120 runs losing 3
wickets. Luke Ronchi, who scored 60 runs in the previous match, posted 70 runs
off 34 deliveries before getting run out. Another hero of the earlier match—Shoaib
Malik—scored 26 runs facing 14 deliveries. He was dismissed by Rayad Emrit. Plunkett
got Umar Akmal’s wicket after he scored 6 runs in 6 balls.
While chasing the massive total, Kerala Kings lost their
first wicket before scoring any runs. Their opening batsman, Chadwick Walton, was
dismissed by Fahim Ashraf. Another opener—Paul Sterling—was unbeaten at 52 runs
scored off 23 deliveries.
Kerala Kings’ Eoin Morgan set a new T10 record of scoring the
fastest half-century, as he made 50 runs in 14 balls. Facing 21 deliveries, Morgan
got dismissed at 63 runs by Hasan Ali. Kieron Pollard remained not out at 2
runs from 4 balls.
Gone are the days when people used to sit all day long
listening to live commentary of a cricket match on the radio. Now, a larger
part of the cricket-loving folks crave a shorter format of cricket that offers
more excitement. For last few days, in the T10 League, people witnessed the
ball going over the boundaries in almost every overs. There was thrill, there
was despair; there was joy, there was regret. Above all, there was enjoyment to
the fullest.