3rd December, 2024: The final of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 tournament between Deccan Gladiators and Morrisville Samp Army that was played at Zayed Cricket Stadium turned out to be a complete entertainer for the spectators. Chasing 105, Gladiators unleashed some fireworks and gunned down the target by 8 wickets and with more than three overs to spare.
Mushtaq Ahmed, head coach of Deccan Gladiators, shared the success formula of the three-time title winners, “My team and I played the role of a good communicator. You can’t teach anyone in just ten days, but you can make them mentally strong, and make sure they should be happy to play for their team.”
“People who work behind the scenes aren’t usually in the limelight, but in case a player is injured or his mood is not okay a day before the match, that’s where you have to make quick communication with him and make sure that player is back up and running. This is what only matters in a short tournament like this,” he further explained.
Gladiators were off to a flying start as opener and England batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore took on skipper Rohan Mustafa in the very first over. Cadmore smashed four fours on the trot to begin the chase in first over while his opening partner and skipper Nicholas Pooran joined the party soon.
Pooran who hails from West Indies dominated Pakistan spinner Imad Wasim as Gladiators collected 20 runs in third over and went past the 50-run mark. The left-handed batter was eventually dismissed for 28 off 10 by pacer Isuru Udana after Mustafa took a blinder in the deep but that didn’t really help Samp Army as Cadmore continued with his aggressive batting display and notched up a fifty.
Earlier, Morrisville Samp Army never really got the start they wanted and lost wickets in regular succession to get reduced to 81/5. It was a late surge from Afghanistan’s Karim Janat who chipped in with 16 off 8 in final overs of the innings that took the total to 104/7 in 10 overs. Faf du Plessis top-scored with 34 off 23 while wicket-keeper batter Andries Gous struck 21 off 9. England pacer Richard Gleeson returned with figures of 2/16 in two overs for Deccan Gladiators.
Captain of the runners-up side, Rohan Mustafa believed it was a team effort from their side and shared his thoughts on the result, “In T10, you have to start off well and put a good score on board to win. We have to accept the fact that we played against a very strong side. If you see, when we came in, we didn’t expect we would be playing the final. We played really well overall, we played together as a unit.”
Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahyan graced the occasion at Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Spectators at Zayed Cricket Stadium also got to witness an electrifying performance from Elnaaz Norouzi during the title clash.
This is the third Abu Dhabi T10 title victory for the Gladiators, having earlier won the tournament in the fifth and sixth seasons respectively. Their star batter Jos Buttler was adjudged Player of the Tournament as he scored a total of 242 runs in the tournament at a strike rate of 224.07. Richard Gleeson was awarded the Bowler of the Tournament, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore won the Batter of the Tournament title respectively. Shahid Bhutta, who took 10 wickets at an economy of 10.93, was picked as the UAE player of the tournament.
Abu Dhabi T10 award winners:
Winner- Deccan Gladiators
Player of the tournament- Jos Buttler
Batter of the tournament- Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Bowler of the tournament- Richard Gleeson
UAE Player of the tournament- Shahid Bhutta