Rovman Powell blasted a 25-ball 61* and the Northern Warriors bowlers backed him up as they beat Pakhtoons by 22 runs to win the second edition of the T10 League.
The eight-team competition, which took place in Sharjah, came to a close with the third-place playoff between Bengal Tigers and Maratha Arabians, which went the way of Sam Billings’ Tigers, and the grand finale between the Warriors and Pakhtoons.
Pakhtoons captain Shahid Afridi asked Darren Sammy’s Warriors – packed with players from the Caribbean – to bat first, and had them down at 40/2 in the fourth over after Lendl Simmons and Nicholas Pooran were sent back.
But Powell and Andre Russell came in and blasted their way through the next few overs. Russell was particularly belligerent, smashing 38 in 12 balls with three fours and four sixes before becoming the third man out, but Powell carried on to hit eight fours and four sixes to take his team to 140/3.
Chasing the steep target, Pakhtoons lost Cameron Delport early to Chris Green (2/11), but Andre Fletcher (37), Shafiqullah (26) and Afridi (17) put up a fight. It wasn’t enough, though, as South African paceman Hardus Viljoen (2/24) struck crucial blows to restrict the scoring. Pakhtoons ended on 118/7.
Powell was named the Player of the Match, while Viljoen took home the Player of the Tournament award.
