UAE: David White credits fantastic pitches for good cricket in ILT20
Following the success of ILT20 Season 3 which concluded on February 9 with Dubai Capitals crowned the new champions, league CEO David White expressed delight over the quality of matches, edge-of-the-seat thrillers to the showdown.
The final, with a packed stadium, was a testimony to world-class competition as Dubai Capitals chased down the target of 190 runs set by Desert Vipers with just four balls to spare, leaving fans enthralled till the very end.
'I think what summarises the success of season 3 is the excitement, world class players, and some of the matches going down to the wire. No doubt, this season has been a big step up in the quality of cricket, the scores have reflected that,' White said.
For the first time in ILT20, over 400 (430) sixes were scored and a total of 10,352 runs amassed by the batters in season 3 underscoring the high-octane matches in the league.
'More than 10,000 runs were scored this season, and we saw some standout individual performances too. The quality of cricket is also largely due to the quality of the pitches we had at our three tournament venues in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah,' White said.
The season witnessed individual brilliance with in-form Shai Hope of Dubai Capitals winning the Green Belt for best batter, MI Emirates Fazalhaq Farooqi claiming the White Belt for best bowler and Sam Curran taking home the Red Belt as MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the season.
Among some of the standout moments this season was home-grown prodigy Aayan Afzal Khan of Gulf Giants picking up four for 16 runs against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders – making it the best figures for a UAE player in the ILT20. The previous record was held by Zuhaib Zuhair with 4 for 22 for Gulf Giants against Sharjah Warriors in the previous season.
UAE's Farhan Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Rohid Khan and the experienced Muhammad Waseem too hogged the limelight this season with impressive performances that promises to aide their career with the national squad.
Elaborating on the impact DP World ILT20 has on developing cricket in UAE, White said, 'ILT20 plays a number of roles, from a community standpoint. It's a great way to connect with the community, we do that with the children playing before the game, the children's performance to the anthem, and we have a vibrant fan zone for families to come and enjoy together. Using the ILT20 brand to connect with the communities has been very good this season."
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