Abu Dhabi Cricket will join the UAE’s 'Year of the Fiftieth' 50th National Day celebrations on 2 December with a festival of cricket taking place at Zayed Cricket Stadium.
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Abu Dhabi Cricket will join the UAE’s ‘Year of the Fiftieth’ 50th National Day celebrations on 2 December with a festival of cricket taking place at Zayed Cricket Stadium. The UAE’s half century will be honoured during the Abu Dhabi T10, with host side Team Abu Dhabi wearing special commemorative shirts with ‘50’ on the back of each players’ jersey in the colours of the national flag. Team Abu Dhabi will face Delhi Bulls from 8pm in the night’s final game, with Bangla Tigers taking on Northern Warriors in UAE National Day’s opening match from 4pm.
Tickets remain on sale for the double header, with fans encouraged to show their support for the country by turning up in their droves to cheer on Team Abu Dhabi as they go in search of a first Abu Dhabi T10 title. “It’s been a pleasure to captain the home team in the Abu Dhabi T10 and all of us in Team Abu Dhabi have enjoyed every minute of being in the UAE,” said Liam Livingstone.
“The UAE is a great country and I’m really looking forward to leading our team out on UAE National Day. I hope that we can mark the country’s 50th year with a victory and go on to win the tournament for all our fans across the emirates.”
The Abu Dhabi T10 will continue its National Day festivities over the remainder of the weekend as the tournament heads toward a dramatic conclusion.
Thursday’s games wrap up the group stage of the competition before Friday’s eliminators that will determine this year’s finalists.
“We’re in for a real treat this weekend and there is no more fitting way for us to celebrate the UAE’s 50th year than by hosting what will be a thrilling end to the Abu Dhabi T10,” said Abu Dhabi Cricket CEO, Matt Boucher.
“This will be an opportunity for the entire Abu Dhabi cricket community to come together as one and, hopefully, see Team Abu Dhabi go all the way and win the tournament for the first time.”
In support of Team Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Cricket’s Year of the Fiftieth festivities, the Abu Dhabi T10’s official ticketing partner QTickets will also be offering a number of discounts on selected events and activities.
Team Abu Dhabi captain Liam Livingstone recently hailed the Abu Dhabi T10 as the sport’s “most instinctive format” and believes that it can aid other forms of cricket.
Livingstone has been in excellent form with bat and ball for Team Abu Dhabi so far, with only Rovman Powell (294) scoring more runs than the England all-rounder (259), who has bludgeoned a league-high 28 sixes across his nine innings with the bat.
He has also contributed seven wickets with the ball as Team Abu Dhabi top the table after their first nine matches and Livingstone is enjoying his first taste of the tournament.
“It’s definitely the most instinctive format of the game,” he explained. “You can plan all you want but you don’t know what’s coming and I guess that’s the good thing about this format, it’s really enjoyable to play in.
“It’s pretty cool that people are getting behind it and there’s definitely a massive future for it in the game. I think T10 cricket is going to actually improve T20 cricket and make that a little more exciting. We’re seeing teams getting 130-140 for two or three in this format and if you start taking that into T20 cricket, we’re going to start seeing a lot of 200-220 plus scores.”
Team Abu Dhabi have already secured their top-four spot that guarantees them a place in the knockouts and victory over Delhi Bulls on Thursday would seal first position.
