Highlights T10 League at Sharjah, Final, Kerala Kings vs Punjabi Legends: Morgan and his Kings are the champions

Man of the Tournament: Luke Ronchi (Punjabi Legends)

Man of the Match: Eoin Morgan (Kerala Kings)

Kerala Kings 121/2 after 8 overs

Dawlat Zadran to bowl the penultimate over. The first ball of the next over is a wide and that’s that. Stirling remained not out on 52 off 23 balls. 

Kerala Kings beat Punjabi Legends by 8 wickets to win the title. That’s the biggest margin of victory in terms of balls to spare.

Kerala Kings 120/2 after 8 overs

Pollard is the new man in. Jordan to bowl the next over. Stirling in trouble. The fielder takes a shy. A direct hit would have taken out Stirling. The Kings get an overthrow instead. Stirling goes straight and collects a fifty. Twin fifties for the first time in an innings in the league. Two runs needed off 15 balls. The field comes in. Pollard not being able to get it away. Hit on the body. Misfield at mid-wicket. Scores are level. Big attendance today. Over 15,000 came to see the extravaganza.

Kerala Kings 113/2 after 7 overs

Hasan Ali to Morgan. Slower delivery. Goes through Morgan. The next delivery is swatted away and that is just short of the diving fielder running in from mid-wicket. Morgan gets an inside edge for four and the equation gets ever easier for Kings. Another six for Morgan. Clears the front leg and over the ropes at long-on. 

OUT! Morgan finally falls. Brathwaite catches, loses his balance. flicks the ball back, regains his balance and calmly catches it again. Cool as a cucumber. These catches have become so commonplace these days. Morga out for 63 off 21. The opponent players shake Morgan’s hand as the Kings captain walks away. He has won it for the Kings surely! 

Just eight runs needed. Plenty of ball left. You didn’t think you could say that in T10 cricket, but such has been Morgan’s blitz.

Kerala Kings 101/1 after 6 overs

Jordan to Stirling. Wide. 28 needed off 30 balls now. Kings are the firm favourites to win this. Slower delivery and Morgan misses. A rare miss. And misses again. The ball goes over the stumps. That was not too far from the stumps. Muscled down the ground by Morgan for a single. The fielder was sitting deep at the edge of the circle at mid-off. Stirling gets a six of his own. A mere flick over mid-wicket and that’s the 100 partnership up. Kings in touching distance of the title now.

Kerala Kings 92/1 after 5 overs

Bopara into the attack. A super-slow delivery to start off. Stirling could have hit it twice over. Misses. the next ball is flicked away. There is a boundary rider at backward square leg. Only a single. The pitch has been rolled well and has become great for batting. It is like concrete. Morgan slashes and that’s hit so hard that it goes through backward point. That should have been stopped though. The next ball is sent high and deep into the crowd at long-off. Length ball disappears again. Another six. On the leg side. Morgan is giving Bopara a real stick. Morgan goes over long-on and it’s caught wonderfully by Brathwaite at the fence. But he has dived over the ropes. Six and that’s the fastest fifty in the league. Morgan in murderous mood. 52 not out off 14 balls. Time to catch our breath. Time for a strategic timeout.

Kerala Kings 69/1 after 4 overs

Dawlat Zadran into the attack. Slower one and Stirling crunches it over mid-wicket for a six. The sound of ball on bat was like gunshot. And another one. That goes miles and miles into the air and clears the ropes at long-on. And again. A hat-trick of sixes. Over long-on again. Stirling has been watching Morgan hit those lusty ones from the other end and he is now joining in the party now. Morgan this time. Swats it away, but a desperate dive at the fine leg fence by Umar Akmal saves a few runs. After a 24-run over, now a 21-run one. Powerplay completed. That’s the highest powerplay score in this tournament.

Kerala Kings 48/1 after 3 overs

Ashraf to Morgan. Sliced for a boundary first ball. The second ball is hit over the top again and just clears mid-off. Four again. The nect ball is smoked for a straight six. On the roof that. Into orbit! That went 113 metres back. Full from Ashraf. Dug out to point. No run there. M organ gets a low full toss and Morgan goes past mid-off and collects four. And over mid-off again. This time even better. Six. Kings are getting a move on. That is now the most expensive over in the league.

Kerala Kings 24/1 after 2 overs

Hasan Ali into the attack. Takes a fall. Looks to have twisted his ankle. In a bit of discomfort. Stirling goes over the top, and just clears point. Stirling goes over the top again and clears point by a long margin. Four. And over the  top of extra cover again. Consecutive boundaries. The next ball is full. Dug out by Stirling. Ali raps Morgan on the pads and takes a shy at the non-striker’s end. Had that hit Stirling could have been in trouble. Overthrow instead.

Kerala Kings 12/1 after 1 over

OUT! Wicket off the first ball as Walton hits one straight up for mid-wicket to settle underneath and take a comfortable catch. Worst possible start for the Kings.

Eoin Morgan joins Stirling at the crease. The second ball has Stirling moving outside leg. The bowler follows him. Driven for a single to get the Kings off the mark. Morgan slaps one past point. Half-stopped. Saved two, did the fielder there. Morgan gives the charge and slices it towards third man. Doesn’t carry to the fielder. Good variations of pace from Ashraf. Full toss well above the waist. That ball slipped out of Ashraf’s hand. Stirling swivels and gets it over the ropes at fine leg. No ball and free hit. Full and tailing in is the free hit delivery. Stirling rapped on the pads, but that ball would have carried on down the leg side. Single.

Punjabi Legends 120/3 after 10 overs

Plunkett to bowl the last over.

OUT! Ronchi run out for 69 off 34 balls. The second run was never on. The ‘keeper Pooran nearly made a hash of the chance trying to whip the bails off. 

Faheem Ashraf comes in. Flicks the first ball in front of square leg for a couple. A four for Ashraf. Tanvir at short fine leg should have stopped that. Ashraf goes over extra cover. Some football at the fence by Pollard saves a run. Brathwaite has two balls to get something big. He is winding up for a big shot. Big backlift. Doesn’t get good connection. Kings miss a run out chance off the last ball. Single to finish.

Punjabi Legends 107/2 after 9 overs

Emrit comes back into the attack. Ronchi throws his bat at the first ball. Goes over point. Doesn’t get the distance though. Falls just short of the onrushing fielder.

OUT! Malik forehands the next one and holes out at deep cover. That hit the splice of Malik’s bat. 26 off 14 balls for him. He has done his job, you feel. 

Carlos Brathwaite comes in. Legends would be looking anywhere between 125 and 135. ‘Jeetega bhai jeetega, Pakistan jeetega’ chants again, coupled with ‘Dil dil Pakistan’. The Legends batsmen attempt a quick two. Good throw from the deep. Emrit messes it up at the non-striker’s end. Fails to collect the ball. Had he done so, Brathwaite would have been a goner.

Punjabi Legends 101/1 after 8 overs

Shakib continues. Malik slog sweeps and collects a massive six over mid-wicket. Shakib bowls one wide as Ronchi was giving room outside off. Wide called. Another wide delivery. Ronchi gets it away for a boundary on the off side. Shakib errs in line again Wide. The second one of the over. The last ball is sent spiralling on the roof by Malik.

Punjabi Legends 80/1 after 7 overs

Tanvir back into the attack. Crunched by Malik, but finds the man at deep mid-wicket on the bounce. Unlucky to have not got a four there. Tanvir is the highest wicket-taker of the tournament so far. The third ball is banged in short. Swatted by Malik. The ball goes way up in the air but falls safely. Five singles off the first five balls. A brilliant over in T10 cricket. And when you have Ronchi and Malik at the crease, it is all the more creditable. A single to Ronchi at square leg off the last ball and that’s a superb over by Tanvir.

Punjabi Legends 74/1 after 6 overs

Shakib into the attack. Haven’t seen a lot of him in this tournament. Two runs off the first two balls. Malik takes a swing. Doesn’t connect sweetly. Few bounces to long-on. Good wicket-to-wicket stuff from the ace Bangladeshi spinner.  But loses control and sprays one way outside off. Malik gets some room and goes over extra cover for four. Comes down the track and almost gets beaten. Shakib had bowled it a bit wide seeing the batsman giving the charge and the ‘keeper was lying in wait.

Punjabi Legends 64/1 after 5 overs

Riaz continues. His Pakistan teammate Malik on strike. The iconic ‘Jeetega bhai jeetega Pakistan jeetega’ chants in the stands. Single for Malik. Ronchi gives room, but plays and misses. Gets the result he was looking for. Gives room outside off again and goes over point. All the way for six. The next ball is pitched up and a powerful drive from Ronchi. Can’t beat the fielder in the deep, though. Full and straight bowls Riaz and long and straight goes Ronchi. SIX! That’s the third consecutive fifty in the tournament for Ronchi. And time to take a break. Time for a strategic timeout.

Punjabi Legends 49/1 after 4 overs

Emrit into the attack. The first ball is flicked away nonchalantly over wide long-on. No chance for even a giant like Kieron Pollard at the fence. Phenomenal shot. Emrit comes back well, but gets flicked again over square leg for six. Ronchi using the bowler’s pace there. Didn’t try to hit it too hard. Full toss. Ronchi flicks again. Not timed as well as he would have liked. A couple still as the fielders mop up at the mid-wicket fence. Hammered behind point for a four and then another flick for a boundary. Ronchi on fire again. Solid use of the four powerplay overs by the Legends.

Punjabi Legends 27/1 after 3 overs

Shoaib Malik comes in and joins Ronchi in the middle. 100 off 40 balls in the semi-final and the Legends would be calling for an encore from these two. They are leading the run-scorers’ list in this tournament. They have put on the only 100-run partnership in the tournament. Wahab Riaz into the attack and he is a crafty bowler. Very steep bounce at pace from Riaz beats Ronchi. The Kiwi goes over mid-on on the next ball. Collects four. Single of the last ball.

Punjabi Legends 19/1 after 2 overs

Plunkett to bowl the second over. Steep bounc. Played away to third man by Akmal. A back of a length delivery to Ronchi. Hurried onto him. Single. Plunkett is getting some purchase from the wicket. Steep bounce. Akmal in a bit of bother. Beaten on the steer. The next ball is banged short again and goes over Akmal’s head. The fifth ball indices an inside edge and runs away to the fence. Akmal was early into the shot. Good old Chinese cut into play.

OUT! Slower yorker. Beautiful delivery cleans up Akmal. Akmal was across the stumps looking to go leg side. Missed it completely.

Punjabi Legends 12/0 after 1 over

Bit of room from Tanvir to start off and Ronchi starts from where he had left off in the semi-final. Cuts and finds the gap to the fence. Gives room and tries to play another cut. Was wicket-to-wicket from Tanvir. Kept out by Ronchi. Tanvir dishes out a juicy length ball. Punished by Ronchi. Six. A big one. Cramped for room next and gets a single. Akmal gets a single to end the over.

Final 

Toss: Eoin Morgan wins the toss and Kerala Kings will bowl.

Punjabi Legends 132/1 after 9.1 overs

Sohail Khan with the last over. Wickets will be the key. Starts with a wide. That’s not what the Pakhtoons want. And Ronchi ends it all with a four backward of square. 100 partnership off 40 balls. Malik unbeaten on 48 off 17 and Ronchi unbeaten on 60 off 34. Terrific chase. 

Punjabi Legends beat Pakhtoons by 9 wickets and cruise into the final.

Punjabi Legends 127/1 after 9 overs

Afridi into the attack. If anyone can contain the Legends, it is Afridi. Two runs off the first two balls. A fine over so far. Only singles in the first four balls. And Malik gets a six away. That should be the turning point! Slog sweep for a six. This is unbelievable hitting. And follows it up with a straight six too. Bludgeoned! 17 runs from that over. Only three to win from the last over.

Punjabi Legends 110/1 after 8 overs

Imran Khan Junior continues. The first ball is smashed by Ronchi for a boundary. Malik swivels and gets a six. Follows by a four. The Legends are running away with the game too. Over extra cover and another four. Shoaib Malik you beauty. Legends need 20 off 12 balls. That is perfectly manageable.

Punjabi Legends 91/1 after 7 overs

Sohail Khan into the attack. Full toss. turned around the corner by Malik. Finds the fielder in the deep. One. Slower ball next. Ronchi hits it back. That caught the bowler by surprise. Got a hand to it, one thought. Banged in by Sohail. Muscled to the mid-wicket fence. Forehand shot that. Some lessons from Sania Mirza? The next ball disappears too. Another four for Malik. Low full toss on the pads. Tickled fine by Malik and a hat-trick of boundaries. Anotehr full toss and Malik dispatches it to the mid-wicket fence. Big over that and the Legends are not out of this game.

Punjabi Legends 73/1 after 6 overs

Imran Khan Junior into the attack. Malik is rapped on the pads. An appeal. Outside leg, you reckon. A low full toss on the off stump. Driven for a couple. 57 needed off 24 balls now.

Punjabi Legends 69/1 after 5 overs

Afridi into the attack. Almost a wicket with his second delivery. An appeal for stumping, but Malik had his foot back in time. That was a top-spinner, foxes Afridi’s old teammate. Deceives him again with a slider. Had the ‘keeper gathered the ball clealy, the Pakhtoons would have been in with a stumping chance. Afridi has not lost any of his magic with the ball even after retirement. Only six runs from that over and the players disperse for a strategic timeout.

Punjabi Legends 63/1 after 4 overs

Irfan continues. Ronchi goes straight. Four. Followed by another boundary. At third man this time. And again. Over the short third man fielder again. 4,4,4. And add six to that. Golf shot. Straight and clean. Another four. Makes room does Ronchi and steers it away using the bounce that vIrfan is getting. Poor bowling by Irfan though. Just turning up and dishing out the same fare. The last ball is dabbed down to third man for a single and Ronchi will keep strike. Some big runs in the four overs of powerplay.