A tournament dominated by big-hitting West Indian, English and Afghan batsman was finally decided by an unheralded Australian off-spinner, as Northern Warriors won the second T10 League title.
The side with the largest Caribbean contingent in the competition were indebted to Chris Green’s miserly spell of two for 11 from two overs as they beat Pakhtoons by 22 runs at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Given the high-scoring nature of the final, Green’s thriftiness was decisive. Pakhtoons had begun their pursuit of 141 to win optimistically, with opener Andre Fletcher striking the ball as crisply as he had throughout a tournament that had been a personal triumph for him. But when Green dismissed him, it drained the impetus from the chase.
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Read more:
Pakistan v New Zealand: Sarfraz Ahmed predicts long Test career for Shaheen Afridi
Charith Senanayake interview: Sri Lanka Cricket's problems are myriad
Australia v India 2018/19: Memorable Tests over past 70 years
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Crowds of thousands had lined the streets outside the stadium more than three hours before the start of the final, with the stands inside already mostly full.
Before the gates had even opened, lines of supporters had snaked around the patch of land behind the petrol station, where the access route to the northern end of the ground is.
This being a national holiday, and with admission free to the two stands at that end of the ground, the mass of people was perhaps predictable.
Yes, there was a third-place playoff that preceded the final – which was won by Bengal Tigers against Maratha Arabians – but it was clear who the vast majority were there to see. The most visible shirt was the yellow of Pakhtoons – and, more pertinently, Shahid Afridi.
Afridi was successful in his first task for the evening. He won the toss, and gave Northern Warriors first use.
Chasing has been the preference for most captains on winning the toss in this tournament, but it still must be a daunting prospect when immediately faced with openers like Nicholas Pooran and Lendl Simmons.
Pooran has been in extraordinary form in this tournament. He came into the final with more runs than anyone else, and a strike-rate of 250.
His stay was only mercifully brief this time, but once he went for 18 from 10 balls, that merely opened the way for the power-hitting of Rovman Powell and Andre Russell.
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The Cricket Pod:
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Russell made 38 in just 12 balls, and was particularly savage on Liam Dawson, taking the Englishman’s first over for 27. One six would have endangered those still milling around on the road adjacent to the ground, while he also drilled a four straight back that knocked the bowler off his feet.
Powell was not out on 61 at the end of the 10 overs, and he hit the last ball of the innings for four to lift the Warriors to 120 for three.
Fletcher set off with full force, but fell to Green when he was adeptly caught by Khary Pierre running in from the long off boundary. That was the seminal moment.
Afridi, as is his wont, railed against the inevitable, hitting two sixes in a whirlwind seven-ball stay at the crease.
But when he was castled by a pumped-up Hardus Viljoen – which nearly sparked a confrontation between the two of them – it marked the end of Pakhtoons chances.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
MANDOOB
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Quentin%20Tarantino%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Uma%20Thurman%2C%20David%20Carradine%20and%20Michael%20Madsen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE%20SQUAD
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Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
