DUBAI // Alex Lees, the Yorkshire captain, saluted his bowling unit after the 2015 Emirates Twenty20 champions successfully defended a modest score against the English T20 champions Lancashire to retain their title.
Struggling in the second half of their innings, Yorkshire could put just 132 for eight on the board, and that, too, was possible only due to a few big blows by Steven Patterson in the final over of the innings, which produced 14 runs.
Patterson then came back to take two wickets for 22 as Lancashire were restricted to 118 for nine, but the man who really turned the tide was left-arm spinner Karl Carver.
Introduced into the attack in the eighth over with Lancashire cruising at 52 for one, Carver, 19, struck with his first ball of the final, dismissing Karl Brown. Three balls later, he caught Luis Reece (35) lbw to put a further dent in their run-chase and put Yorkshire in control.
“Delighted with the result,” Lees said. “At halfway point there, didn’t think 130 was going to be enough, but hats off to the bowlers. Each and every bowler who bowled there in that second innings were outstanding.
“I think we got to take that as a template, particularly for our bowling going into the T20 season.”
UAE beaten amid scoring controversy
Earlier in the semi-finals, the UAE were knocked out of the tournament following a controversial end to their match against Lancashire, while Yorkshire got the better of the Marylebone Cricket Club team.
Chasing Lancashire’s 145 for seven, the UAE entered the last over needing nine to win, according to the scores on the online stream, and Mohammed Naveed’s last-ball six, off Kyle Jarvis, meant the home had finished on an identical 145 for seven.
There was, however, a one-run discrepancy between the digital score and the scoring done on paper by another set of scorers, according to which Lancashire were the winners by a run.
The on-field umpires, according to the tournament officials, were following this other set of scorers and, before the start of the final over, had informed both teams that the UAE needed 10 for a win.
With no provision for a super over, the UAE would have been winners on the basis of having a higher total after the power play overs, had the match been tied.
The digital scorers, irked by the idea they might have made a mistake, ran through the video tape in the commentary marquee after the game. Having checked the overs in question, they remained convinced the scores were the same.
Emirates Cricket Board officials met with tournament organisers after the game to resolve the issue.
The officials acknowledged a mistake could have been made, but that the umpires, as the final arbiters of fact, had guided both teams on what the UAE required to win the match before the final over started.
“We have MCC at this tournament, who are heavy promoters of the spirit of cricket, and one of the key elements of that is that the onfield umpires’ decision is final,” said Matthew Jackson, the tournament director.
“The umpires went through the correct process. The umpires were not sure of the score at the beginning of the final over. They checked with the book scorer, and made a decision of what the score was.
“They informed the players of what they needed off the last over [10 runs]. Whether that was correct or not is irrelevant because they went through the right process, and I am comfortable with that. Maybe there was a mistake made, but I don’t know if there was or not.”
The national team’s players had appeared to have grudgingly accepted the match was lost once the final ball had been bowled. For example, Amjad Javed, the UAE captain, had left the ground long before the debate was sorted.
The all-rounder, who works for Emirates airline, the tournament sponsors, had arrived from his job on an overnight flight on the morning of the game. As such, he had headed home to sleep at the conclusion of the game.
Defeat in any circumstances was tough for the national team to take, seeing as they appeared to be in control of the chase with three overs left.
Lancashire are the current English Twenty20 champions, but the national team have had a high calibre of opposition in the build-up to this tournament.
It is their first outing since facing Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Asia Cup in Dhaka earlier this month.
Their star performer here was a batsman who was overlooked for the tour of Bangladesh. Laxman Sreekumar, who debuted for the national team last year and has been a regular in the other formats since, hit 61 not out to serve notice of his T20 credentials.
“My dream was to play for this country, and I have been working for that for years,” Laxman said.
“I wanted to be in the Asia Cup side because I want to play T20, 50 overs and four-day cricket for UAE. Maybe next time.”
MCC fall short
In the second semi-final, chasing Yorkshire’s 155 for five for a place in the final, MCC wasted a rollicking start to finish on 142 for eight, 13 runs short of their target.
The MCC were quick off the blocks in their chase, thanks to a blazing 27-ball 46 from opener Tom Westley. They had 70 on the board when he departed after 7.4 overs, in Carver’s first over.
Carver took two more wickets in his second over – of Rikki Clarke and Samit Patel – and William Rhodes then took two more in the next over to wreck MCC’s chase and they slipped from 70 for one to 87 for six, with the last four of those wickets falling in the space of 11 balls.
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