The first game of the National Cricket League (NCL) Sixty Strikes was played on Friday (IST), with Texas Gladiators CC defeating Dallas Lonestars CC by 42 runs.
Friday (IST) marked the start of the National Cricket League (NCL) Sixty Strikes, with Texas Gladiators CC defeating Dallas Lonestars CC by 42 runs in the opening match. When asked to bat first, Texas, headed by Shahid Afridi, amassed an incredible 140/3 in 10 overs. Later, Texas gained the vital two points in the T10 series despite a valiant effort by Dinesh Karthik’s Lonestars, who were limited to 98/3. Texas’ triumph was primarily engineered by former England batsman Dawid Malan, who scored an explosive 67 off of 26 balls.
Texas began play with Malan and Kennar Lewis, who combined for 34 runs in just two overs. Then, with the final delivery of the second over, Chris Green got rid of Lewis for eleven, giving Dallas their first breakthrough.
After joining Malan at the crease, Nick Kelly and he carried on the carnage, helping Texas reach 100 runs in eight overs. After Chris Wood removed Malan for 67 with the second delivery of the ninth over, Dallas exhaled with relief.Kelly’s explosive game continued, as he and captain Shahid Afridi took Texas to 140 before Kelly was clean bowled for 45 off 25 on the final delivery of the innings by Chiranjeevi Saikanth Akunuri.
Dallas got off to a solid start as they chased 141 in 10 overs, with openers Colin Munro and Sohaib Maqsood putting together a solid 69-run partnership. Nevertheless, their stance was undermined when Munro retired with a 17-year injury. Samit Patel then joined Maqsood, but he was removed by James Fuller and left for two, making Dallas 69/1 after eight overs.Maqsood scored 67 off 36 balls before falling victim to Nisarg Patel’s delivery in the tenth over. Chris Green then joined captain Dinesh Karthik, but the latter gave away his wicket to Patel, ending Dallas’ innings at 98/3.
