FairBreak Invitational welcomes a thrilling new world of cricket to Dubai - in pictures

A bowler from the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan sent down the second over of the first FairBreak Invitational fixture.

A schoolgirl from Dubai took the first catch, and a spectacular effort, high above her head on the boundary, it was, too.

At other times, there was a Thai off-spinner, a Papua New Guinean leg-spinner, an Argentine seam bowler, and a captain who has flown in from the United States to play.

When the organisers of cricket’s newest T20 franchise league said they would be welcoming the world, they were not wrong.

And yet, on a vivid opening night under the ring of fire floodlights at Dubai International Stadium, it was the stars of cricket’s old world order who shone the brightest.

Hayley Matthews, the Barbadian power-hitter, got the tournament off to a flying start as she blazed a 58 from 38 balls at the top of the order for the Warriors.

She might have notched this innovative event’s first century, too, were it not for the intervention of Theertha Satish, the diminutive UAE batter who held a brilliant catch, while just maintaining her balance inside the boundary rope at midwicket.

Theertha’s effort was met with rapturous acclaim in the stand beyond the fence behind her. Friends and family of her and Esha Oza, her national teammate who was lining up for the opposition, accounted for the majority of the small crowd who were present.

Falcons' Theertha Satish bats in the game between Falcons and Warriors in the FairBreak Invitational, T20 cricket tournament at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Once Matthews went, Georgia Redmayne maintained the momentum. The Australian wicketkeeper-batter ended not out at the end of the first 20 overs, reaching 80 as the Warriors notched