Abu Dhabi: Delhi Bulls’ brilliant chase for a seven-wicket win against Deccan Gladiators on the first day of the Aldar Properties T10 League was a display of experienced players’ ability to handle pressure.
Gladiators, despite posting 102 for one in 10 overs thanks to their skipper Shane Watson’s unbeaten 52, could not stop Delhi as their skipper Eoin Morgan, who hit an unbeaten 52, backed by Angelo Mathews’ unbeaten 22, won with three balls to spare.
Morgan, the World Cup-winning captain for England, has been in stupendous form had hailed T10 to be one his favourite tournaments in the past. After his brilliant half-century off just 27 balls studded with three sixes and five boundaries, Morgan spoke about his form: “I’m enjoying my cricket at the moment. I’ve just come in from New Zealand which was a successful series. Confidence is quite high and being an experienced player, when confidence is high you need to make the most of it. Hopefully, I can continue to do it.”
When Gulf News asked how he planned the chase, Morgan said: “I thought it was a tough chase. The wicket was a bit two-paced. They played really well as Devcich and Watson seemed to get going and found their timing. I think all our guys, apart from Paul Stirling, found the timing really hard, to get a partnership going. We had a small bit of luck along the way with some catches being dropped and we managed to hold our nerve, which is nice. It is important to get the momentum going in such a short tournament. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Morgan said that even a tough score can be chased if with one partnership in T10, like he did with Mathews. “It’s more a psychological thing that everybody thinks that you are running out of time constantly even on a slow wicket. It shows that you can catch up if you do get a partnership going.”
Watson refused to be affected by the defeat and said: “It would have been nice to get another 10 or 15 more. They also bowled well towards the end. It was a few little things we could have done better but it still was a good start - having to arrive and prepare for the match in two-three days. In Abu Dhabi, the conditions a different to Sharjah (last year). The ground here is bigger, so it’s hard to know how big a total you need.”
Brief scores: (Friday matches)
Delhi Bulls bt Deccan Gladiators by 7 wkts: 102 for 1 in 10 overs (Shane Watson 57n.o, Anton Devcich 28n.o) Delhi Bulls: 103 for 3 in 9.3 overs (Eoin Morgan 52n.o, Angelo Mathews 22n.o, Zahir Khan 3 for 17) Man of the Match: Eoin Morgan (Delhi Bulls). Team Abu Dhabi and Lahore Qalandars tie match. Team Abu Dhabi: 103 for 6 in 10 overs (Corey Anderson 43, Luke Wright 20, Lahiru Kumara 2 for 22) Lahore Qalandars: 103 for 3 in 10 overs (Dawid Malan 33, Philip Salt 33, Luke Ronchi 23m.o, T Marchant de Lange 2 for 20). Man of the Match: Dawid Malan (Lahore Qalandars)
