ILT20: Sharjah Warriorz’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore credits coaches for giving freedom to express

Sharjah (The Uttam Hindu): Sharjah Warriorz have made a superb start to the ILT20 Season 3 as they registered a three-wicket win against Gulf Giants on Sunday. In what was a highly entertaining contest at the Dubai International Stadium, Warriorz were spurred on by captain Tim Southee’s three wickets and Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s unbeaten 83. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who opened the innings for Sharjah Warriorz, batted right through and took the team over the line on the final delivery of the game.

“It is amazing to start the tournament with a win, and a close one too. It was great to get off with a start. We would have been devasted if we messed that up. I wanted to take full responsibility for the last over. There’s been a couple of close games already, and we are expecting more of the same this season,” he said.

Talking about the thought process during the chase, the England batter said, “We had a clear message, and that was to go out there and take the game on, and we did that from the beginning as well. It is quite exciting to be part of a team that has so much freedom and we can take the game on. I think our team’s really exciting and there’s a lot of freedom allowed to us, and that I think is down to JP Duminy and the rest of the coaches, who have given us the license to go out there and express ourselves.”

Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who finished as the Player of the Match, smashed six boundaries, and four maximums during his innings. That apart, he claimed a couple of important catches as well. Speaking about his star performer on the day, captain Tim Southee said, “The way Tom Kohler-Cadmore batted tonight was brilliant. We have a deep batting line-up, and you see the value of taking wickets consistently. It was nice to get on the right side of this result though.”

The England opener is not alien to the UAE and admitted he enjoys playing here. Reflecting on his time in UAE, he said, “I think Dubai and the UAE is an amazing place and the fans too are brilliant, as are the general conditions for us. Sharjah Warriorz set-up is fantastic too, and coming here, it’s one of my highlights of the year. It’s a shame the tournament isn’t a little bit longer actually.” “I just want to be able to go out and perform and win games for my team, that’s all I want to do, any time I enter the field, I want to try and win matches for my team,” the right-handed batter signed off.