• Home
• /
• Local Sports
• /
• Cricket

It's a final date for the Maratha Arabians

Abu Dhabi - Dwayne Bravo's men, who had lost in the semifinals in the inaugural iteration and in the Eliminator last season, nicked a seven-run win against the Qalandars in the Qualifier 1 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

After two near misses in this blink-and-you-miss format, the Maratha Arabians turned it on to finally set a final date in the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 League on Saturday.
Dwayne Bravo's men, who had lost in the semifinals in the inaugural iteration and in the Eliminator last season, nicked a seven-run win against the Qalandars in the Qualifier 1 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
And Bravo put it down to precision planning right from the draft.
"It started all the way from the draft. Last season we lost in the play off," said Bravo.
"I am very happy  the owners and management team gave me the luxury to be involved in selecting the squad this. We have a very good coach in Andy Flower. He is very organized and has the experience as a coach. We put together a squad which will represent Maratha Arabians brand very well. We haven't won the title but we are very happy with the way we played in the play-offs and be the first to qualify. It all about what took place in the draft earlier on," he explained.
It might have been a dominant performance right through the tournament but Bravo was not putting all the eggs in one basket and was not thinking about celebrations just yet. The final will be played on Sunday against the winner of Eliminator 2.
"What is to be, will be. If Maratha are to win the title, we going to win the title. If we are to finish second then we will finish second. Everything is the hands of mighty God. We play our game, we played throughout this tournament with a lot of pride, a lot of heart and we played fair. We were the most dominant team, as you can see the points standings, the first team to qualify," he said.
And to illustrate his point, Bravo mentioned the Caribbean Premier League this season.
"At the end of the day, sometimes, it could be the best team in the tournament but that doesn't mean you are going to win the title. You look at CPL this year, Guyana Amazon Warriors were the only team to win 12 games, turned up for the final, they lost the important game," Bravo pointed out.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors lost to the Barbados Tridents by 27 runs in the final.
james@khaleejtimes.com