Gems Modern Academy set the stage for ILT20 with Schools Cup win for Gulf Giants

Ahead of the second season of the DP World International League T20, the organisers stated that one of their aims for creating a greater fan following will be fostering tribalism and rivalries between their teams.

The UAE’s T20 league, which returns on Friday in Sharjah, is just one year old, so it stands to reason there are no long-standing enmities just yet.

Maybe the six franchises could borrow some of the fire that was on show in the final of the first ILT20 Schools Cup tournament. Gems Modern Academy became the pioneering maiden champions, as they beat fellow Dubai side The Winchester School by six wickets in the final.

The competition has been organised with a view to forging a tighter bond between the ILT20 and the community which should be its audience.

It comprised 36 teams from all over the UAE. The teams were split into six groups of six. The winning team in each conference were the representatives of one each of the ILT20 franchises.

More than 500 teenagers took part in the competition, with each presumably now feeling a greater affinity to the ILT20 franchises than they did at this time last year.

Which is all very wholesome stuff. And yet the final was laced with plenty of venom. As Gems Modern set about chasing the 169 they needed to take the title, the two sides became embroiled in a number of disputes.

At times, players had to be held apart from each other, and tempers doused. Winchester were bayed on by vociferous support from beyond the picket fence.

When victory was finally sealed, a number of the winning players made for the boundary line to gloat.

The frayed emotions were perhaps understandable. Many of the players were playing the last match of their school careers, and, according to player of the