Maratha Arabians lifted the 2019 Abu Dhabi T10 league as they beat the defending champions Deccan Gladiators by eight wickets on Sunday.

Gladitor’s 87 in 10 overs was never going enouh for them to win, even though at times, they seemed to have put up a good fight.

Arabians captain Dwayne Bravo was elated after winning the trophy. “Very special performance,” he said after the match. “I will officially change my name now to Mr. Champion. Each of us deserve this victory. It was a change to play against the defending champions who have a fabulous team. Guys like Malinga and me came up with a plan and forced teams to beat us against that plan.”

Bravo’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss seemed to be good one when the Gladiators posted 87 runs in their 10 overs after their top order failed to contribute in a significant manner.

The Arabians hardly fluttered in the chase with Chadwick Walton smashing a 26-ball 51 to see them off the line.

“Thanks to the team for showing the confidence in me to open the batting, it really paid off,” Walton told after the match. “When you have a suitable replacement on the bench it works out quite well, all our changes were strategic changes. You have to apply yourselves even in this format, you can’t just swing every ball. It is nice to have world class players like Malinga, Mitch and Bravo. I have been playing with most of these guys in leagues around the world and we have a family here.”

Yuvraj Singh, who was playing his first T10 league season after retiring from international cricket, said that winning it was special and talked about getting back in the coming year.

“Winning the championship is really special,” he said. “The top two sides in the tournament played the final. It was a fast event, a big experience for me. If other countries play some T10, they’ll get used to it. Took us time to get used to it before we took off. I’d like to sort my body out, and turn up again next year.”