Delhi Bulls' captain Morgan weighs in on format

Abu Dhabi - Nicholas Pooran helps Warriors win their first match of the Super League phase by six wickets.

Eoin Morgan has undoubtedly been a prized catch for the Delhi Bulls and the franchise has team mentor Anis Sajan to thank for it.
And England's World Cup-winning skipper has been top notch, with scores of 52 not out, 21 and 27 not out, in the third season of the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Morgan was again at his stellar best as he struck a sublime 56 from 28 deliveries with five sixes and three boundaries against the Northern Warriors at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was the 33-year-old's highest score of this edition and it vaulted Morgan to the top of the run scorers' list with 156 runs from four games.
But it was somewhat bested by an identical 56 from 25 balls with four boundaries and five sixes by Nicholas Pooran as the Warriors won their first match of the Super League phase by six wickets.
After the eight teams completed the group stage on Monday, the Super League stage sees teams ranked from first to last in the order play against teams from the other group. That will eventually determine the teams for the Qualifier 1, Eliminator and Eliminator 2.
When asked his thoughts on the format with all eight teams going through and whether it needs a tweak in the future, Morgan wasn't quite sure how it could be worked out.
"I don't know. To be honest, I haven't come up with a better solution yet so, not quite sure what the better option is. I think if you were to eliminate people after three games, it would be very, very tough on them. It would only go to that if I think there were more teams involved and a longer group stage," explained Morgan.
"It is the luck of the draw really depending on what team is performing and what not. You might end up playing against one of the better teams a lot more than one of the weaker teams. But certainly in the early stages of any tournament around the world, statistics show that the better team early on normally doesn't evolve to win the tournament," he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com

BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Bulls: 110 for 6 in 10 overs (Eoin Morgan 56, Muhammad Usman 13, David Willey 12 not out, Mohammad Nabi 10, Angelo Mathews 10, Chris Green 3-8, Andre Russell 2-25) lost to Northern Warriors: 115 for 4 in 9 overs (Nicholas Pooran 56 not out, Andre Russell 22, Lendl Simmons 22) by 6 wickets. Man of the Match: Nicholas Pooran (Northern Warriors)