Abu Dhabi T10 season seven to kick off with thrilling double-header

Nicholas Pooran during Deccan Gladiators’ win over New York Strikers in the 2022 Abu Dhabi T10 final at Zayed Cricket Stadium. Photo: Abu Dhabi T10

Cricket’s fastest format is back with the Abu Dhabi T10’s seventh season kicking off with a double-header at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Deccan Gladiators, champions for the past two years, take on New York Strikers on the opening night, followed by the Northern Warriors against Morrisville Samp Army.

Chennai Braves, Delhi Bulls, Bangla Tigers and Team Abu Dhabi are the other teams who will compete in the 12-day tournament.

Tournament format

All teams will feature in a double round-robin league with the top four teams qualifying for the play-offs.

Qualifier 1 sees the top two teams go head-to-head on December 8. The third and fourth-placed teams will play the Eliminator match on the same day.

The winner of the Eliminator will then play the loser of Qualifier 1 for a place in the final. The final will be held on December 9.

Venue

All the matches, including the play-offs, Qualifier 1, the Eliminator and the final, will be played at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Match timings

The matches will have different time slots. On double-header days, games will start at 6.15pm local time and the second game will start at 8.30pm. As for the triple-headers, the first match will commence at 4pm, while the second and third matches will start at 6.15pm and 8.30pm, respectively.

On the final day, the match will start at 6pm with the title clash at 7.30pm.

Players to watch

Chennai Braves: Jason Roy, Charith Asalanka, Sikandar Raza and Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

Deccan Gladiators: Nicholas Pooran, Trent Boult, Andre Russell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Fabian Allen.

Delhi Bulls: Quinton de Kock, Rovman Powell, Dwayne Bravo, Rilee Rossouw.

Morrisville Samp Army: Faf du Plessis, Jason Holder, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana.

Northern Warriors: Wanindu Hasaranga, James Neesham, Hazratullah Zazai, Tabraiz Shamsi.

New York Strikers: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Mohammad Amir, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Team Abu Dhabi: Kyle Mayers, Dwaine Pretorius, Alex Hales, Roelof van der Merwe.

Bangla Tigers: Shakib Al Hasan, Dominic Drakes, Carlos Brathwaite, Robin Uthappa.