Kerala Kings crowned T10 champs

Morgan, the England limited-overs captain, aced the chase of 121 with a sparkling 63 from 21 balls.

Right from day one, the 'Chenda,' a traditional percussion instrument from the southern Indian state of Kerala, used famously at the Thrissur Pooram, a traditional festival, was a permanent feature whenever the Kerala Kings played.
They drummed up a beat each time Eoin Morgan and his men took to the field, perhaps, their 12th man.
The Chenda and the cymbals created quite the cacophony and was akin to a battle cry - the arrival of a warrior. And cometh he did.
Captain Morgan led from the front as Kerala Kings bested Punjabi Legends to become the first ever champions of the brand new T10 League.
Morgan, the England limited-overs captain, aced the chase of 121 with a sparkling 63 from 21 balls, studded with half a dozen sixes and five boundaries and was assisted by Irishman Paul Stirling, who remained unbeaten on 52 from 23 deliveries, with five sixes and three boundaries.
Their scintillating knocks made the target look too little as the Kerala Kings romped home with eight wickets still in hand and with 12 balls to spare.
After the flurry of shots that flew off the bat, the ending was an anti-climax Dawlat Zadran bowling a wide with one needed from 12 deliveries.
Backed up by those drum beats, it was like Morgan had gone into a trance. And nothing ever flustered Morgan as he slit through the Punjabi Legends bowling attack and slit them into pieces on an absolute belter of a track at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Morgan got a standing ovation once he was done, caught brilliantly by Carlos Brathwaite on the boundary line, but the sense of accomplishment and happiness was evident on his face. Perhaps, for a fleeting moment, it lifted the gloom off the Ashes travails his compatriots are going through Down Under.
Stirling was more than the ideal support cast, holding his own alongside a former countryman, who is now the England captain.
Opener Chadwick Walton's first ball duck didn't deter Morgan and Stirling as they raced to 92 for 1 in five overs. In comparison, the Punjabi Legends were 64 for 1 when the strategic time out was taken.
Morgan had just completed his half century from just 14 deliveries with five sixes and four boundaries.
By then, the Kerala Kings needed just 29 from 30 balls.
Earlier, Luke Ronchi and the Punjabi Legends thought they had done enough by piling up a stiff 120 for 3.
Ronchi followed up his unbeaten 60 in the semifinal, with 70, the highest individual score of the League. He also became the highest run-getter in the League with 197 runs from five innings.
But that was to be of little consolation as the Morgan-Stirling show took over.
james@khaleejtimes.com
SCOREBOARD
Punjabi Legends Innings
Ronchi run out 70
Akmal b Plunkett 6
Malikc Shakib b Emrit 26
Brathwaite not out 3
Ashraf not out 9
Extras 6 (b 1, w 5)
Total: Three wickets in 10 overs 120
Fall: 1-19, 2-102, 3-108.
Bowling: Tanvir 2-0-18-0, Plunkett 2-0-19-1, Riaz 2-0-23-0, Emrit 2-0-28-1, Shakib 2-0-31-0.
Kerala Kings Innings
Walton c Akmal b Ashraf 0
Stirling not out 52
Morgan c Brathwaite b Ali 63
Pollard not out 2
Extras 4 (b 1, nb 1, w 2)
Total: Two wickets in eight overs 121
Fall: 1-0, 2-113
Bowling: Ashraf 2-0-36-1, Ali 2-0-23-1, Zadran 1-0-22-0, Bopara 1-0-23-0, Jordan 2-0-16-0.