It was not an ideal start for former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh as far his T10 career is concerned. Not only did his side Maratha Arabians lost the inaugural match of the third edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League to Northern Warriors by 8 wickets, Yuvraj could only manage 6 runs with the bat.
One of the star attractions of the tournament, Yuvraj came out to bat at number four against the Northern Warriors after the dismissal of Australian Chris Lynn.
The southpaw started off well, dispatching Windies all-rounder Andre Russell for a four down the leg side. Yuvraj followed his boundary with two runs in the next over.
But, Yuvraj’s maiden T10 innings didn’t last long. In the fifth over of the Maratha innings, he gave away his wicket to Rayd Emrit, trying to hoick him over long on.
Chris Green completed a comfortable catch to bring curtains to Yuvraj's 6-ball stay at the crease.
In Yuvraj’s T10 debut, it was Northern Warrior’s Andre Russell who stole the show. The Windies all-rounder single-handedly won the match for his side with a knock of 24-ball 58, which had Andre Russell written all over it. He finished with 6 sixes and 4 fours.
Maratha Arabians’ Lasith Malinga, was rendered useless by the Russell show. Meanwhile, Yuvraj never got an opportunity to bowl during the match.
Earlier, Northern Warriors won the toss and decided to bowl. Maratha Arabians were off to the worst start possible losing their first wicket off the first ball of the match. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals to finish with 88/6 in their allotted 10 overs.
Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka starred for the Arabians with the bat. His innings of 19-ball 37 gave his team the late burst. En route his 37, Shanaka hit 2 fours and solitary six square off the wicket. The high point of Maratha's batting was wicket keeper Chadwick Walton smashing Chris Green for three back-to-back boundaries in the second over of the innings.
It was once again Andre Russell who did the job for the Northern Warriors but with the ball this time. Apart from his two wickets, Russell suffocated the opposition batters. He ended up giving only 12 runs in his 2 overs. England's Chris Wood also accounted for two wickets.
Yuvraj had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket earlier this year. Apart from the T10 League, he was also part of the Global T20 League in Canada, which was played in September this year.
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