Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)
At the start of the seventh season of the Abu Dhabi T10 League, Kieron Pollard was asked about the missing ingredient from last year’s final, which saw team New York Strikers miss out one step away on their tournament debut. He was also asked to respond to critics who have been murmuring if “he was over the hill”.
Agreeing right away to the second part of the question, Pollard responded in the right, fun spirit with a straight bat to everything. He did it again on Sunday with performances to back with this time as a unit when Strikers avenged their 2022 defeat to Gladiators and went all the way after 12 days of intense action at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
“It is true that my time as playing days are coming to an end and I am also enjoying as a coach [he turned batting coach of Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians this year]. The T10 title this year has been rewarding as it shows if you back class players and stick to basics in the final like we did,” Pollard said, after celebrations winded out from their seven-wicket victory over the Gladiators.
THE CHAMPIONS 🙌#NYSvDG #ADT10 #CricketsFastestFormat #AbuDhabiT10 #InAbuDhabi️ pic.twitter.com/xb6H5LsvPC
— T10 Global (@T10League) December 9, 2023
He was referring to the highlights from the business end of the AD T10. The West Indies all-rounder also let out a small team secret; Sunil Narine, fellow veteran and compatriot, had a bout of self-doubt coming into the tournament. “I was sure and convinced him he is still good enough to deliver the goods,” Pollard said.
It was Narine, who put his hand up first in the final when the Gladiators batsmen were put in to bat and came out bats blazing from Nicholas Pooran and Tom Kohler-Cadmore. One shot from Pooran even had Pollard applauding.
But Narine bowled a spell of two overs for just six runs and induced a batting collapse from Gladiators in their impatience to make up for that dip. Before the first ball was bowled, this was labelled as the clash between the best bowling (New York) and batting (Deccan) sides of the tournament.
Deccan were clearly the favourites as two-time champions. “Narine showed his class and proved me right,” Pollard said later. Andre Russell (30 not out) and David Wiese (20 not out) gave the Deccan score a respectable finish after the mid-innings stumble.
Narine’s good spell meant Akeal Hosein, their best bowler, was used to wrap the final overs of their innings. Hosein was adjudged both “best player” and “bowler of the tournament” later.
Strikers’ Mohammad Jawadullah was declared the best player from the UAE.
Trophy-worthy performances 🏆
— T10 Global (@T10League) December 11, 2023
From powerful knocks to standout spells, relive the standout moments from the New York Strikers' campaign! 👊#NYS #CricketsFastestFormat #ADT10 #AbuDhabiT10 #InAbuDhabi️ @NewYorkStrikers pic.twitter.com/MaD85pWcUZ
Interestingly, New York had reached an identical score of 91 for five last year in response to Deccan’s 128 for four, but this time it was what they needed to win on a slower surface. At 38-3 their chase looked floundering when Pollard and Pakistan’s Asif Ali (48 not out) stepped up to the plate having not done much of note with the bat.
“I have been making 10-20 odd runs but the time I spent in the middle, and especially with the new ball since I arrived almost soon into the innings, is just what I needed for my confidence at this stage of my career,” said Ali.
Pollard kept rotating the strike as they chased down the target of 92 with four balls to spare without much power-hitting. “The wicket was slow, and they have a good bowling side. We were always in the required run-rate territory.
"So we just had to stick to the basics, get some runs flat down the ground and it is proven that, irrespective of the format, sticking to the basics always is the right way,” Pollard said in his sign-off.
