An unbeaten 32-ball 90 from Andre Russell, coupled with Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 28-ball 59 not out, helped Deccan Gladiators win their first ever Abu Dhabi T10 League title. They beat Delhi Bulls by 56 runs in the final at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on 4 December.
After Dwayne Bravo won the toss and asked the Gladiators to bat, the Bulls bowlers seemed helpless against Russell and Kohler-Cadmore. They batted through all 10 overs, smashing 12 sixes and as many fours between them, to steer their side to 159/0, the highest total of the season.
Ravi Rampaul conceded 38 off his two overs. He was the most expensive Bulls bowler. Dominic Drakes, who finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the campaign (19 wickets), behind Wanindu Hasaranga (21), went for 33. Bravo himself went for 16 an over.
Coming to chase, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the third-highest run-getter (343 at 214), and Chandrapaul Hemraj got the Bulls off to a rousing start. They raced to 24 in just nine balls before Odean Smith (2-20) got Gurbaz, and caught Sherfane Rutherford off his own bowling in back-to-back deliveries in the second over.
Hemraj (42 in 20 balls) and Eoin Morgan (13) tried hard, but the target was too big to chase down, more so in a final against a bowling unit led by Hasaranga (2-20), the world’s best bowler in the shortest format of international cricket.
The Player of the tournament 🙌
— T10 League (@T10League) December 4, 2021
Number 1️⃣ T20I bowler in the world 🔥
Number 1️⃣ T10 bowler in the world ❓
I think you can guess… Wanindu Hasaranga 🙌#AbuDhabiT10 #InAbuDhabi #CricketsFastestFormat pic.twitter.com/uPYyhdtpi9
There was little contest left when Tymal Mills came to bowl seventh and ninth overs. Yet he produced an outstanding performance, sending Drakes and Bravo back to the pavilion for no score. Had Mills not bowled a wide in the seventh over, he could have completed a double-maiden wicket. The Bulls, for successive sessions, finished as runner-ups, as they hobbled to reach 103/7.
Brief scores: Deccan Gladiators 159/0 in 10 overs (Russell 90*) beat Delhi Bulls 103/7 in 10 overs (Hemraj 42; Hasaranga 2-20) by 56 runs. Player of the Match: Andre Russell.
Deccan Gladiators won Abu Dhabi T10 League 2021. Player of the Tournament: Wanindu Hasaranga.