Sri Lanka’s young mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana (3/14) and fast bowling all-rounder Dhananjaya Lakshan (2/14) displayed an excellent bowling performance guiding their side Northern Warriors to clinch Abu Dhabi T10 League championship 2021 which worked off yesterday (06th January) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
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After winning the toss, the Northern Warriors’ skipper Nicholas Pooran invited Delhi Bulls to take the first lease of the wicket and it turned out to be a good decision as they were able to restrict them for 81 runs in the allotted 10 overs.
The 20-year old Maheesh Theekshana stunned the opposition team with his mystery bowling action and picked up 3 wickets for 14 runs including the key scalps of Evin Lewis, Ravi Bopara and skipper Dwayne Bravo.
The 22-year old Dhananjaya Lakshan also bowled exceptionally well to bag 2 wickets for 14 runs. Northern Warriors chased down the target in 8.2 overs only losing 2 wickets and clinched the title for the second time. Maheesh Theekshana was named as the Man of the Final for his brilliant bowling performance.
Meanwhile, Team Abu Dhabi in which Sri Lankan former cricketer Kumar Sangakkara is assigned as a mentor, won the third place of the tournament as they defeated Qalanders team in the 3rd Place Play-off encounter.
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Former Sri Lankan cricketer Thilina Kandamy was also involved in the tournament as the head coach of Bangla Tigers team but he didn’t have a successful campaign with the franchise as they ended up in the 5th place winning only 2 out of 6 matches played.
In addition to Maheesh Theekshana and Dhananjaya Lakshan, two Sri Lankan youngsters Kevin Koththigoda and Matheesha Pathirana played in the tournament. Pathirana who bowls like Lasith Malinga played 3 matches for Bangla Tigers picking up 2 wickets.
Kevin Koththigoda who played for Maratha Arabians injured himself in the very first game he played as he tumbled over twice while bowling. He stumbled off the field after the injury and was ruled out of the tournament.
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Overall, the Sri Lankan youngsters were very impressive throughout the tournament specially Maheesh Theekshana and Dhananjaya Lakshan stood out in every opportunity they got to play during the tournament and were brilliant in a high-pressure game like T10 final without having much exposure in the international stage.
 and fast bowling all-rounder Dhananjaya Lakshan (2/14) displayed an excellent bowling performance guiding their side Northern Warriors to clinch Abu Dhabi T10 League championship 2021 which worked off at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.){kind=link}