By Rifat Malik and Haider Abbas
The third day of the National Cricket League’s Sixty Strikes Tournament got off to a flying start with some of the biggest names in the cricketing world. In the fourth game, the star-studded Los Angeles Waves CC, featuring international names like former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, Australia’s Tim David, and England’s Tymal Mills, faced off against the might of the Texas Gladiators CC, led by Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi and fellow countryman Wahab Riaz, along with England’s Dawid Malan and South Africa’s James Fuller.
The Los Angeles Waves CC posted a competitive total of 126 with the loss of 3 wickets in their 10 overs, bolstered by a brilliant innings of 50 runs from Tim David and a speedy 25 from Eskinazi. In response, the Texas Gladiators CC chased down the 127-run target comfortably, aided by an explosive 39 runs off just 10 balls from Fuller.
After the match, the classy all-rounder Fuller expressed his excitement about playing in the tournament during his first visit to Texas. “It’s awesome here in Dallas…and as a player Im really enjoying it.. it’s just amazing. The people are so nice and the events been put on really well” he said.
Fuller, who has played for different clubs around the world, including Gloucestershire, Middlesex, and Hampshire in England and Southern Brave in the Big Bash League in Australia, spoke about his team’s game plan. “Obviously early on we bowled pace and the wicket was probably a little bit wet, just probably at the start of the game,” he said. “The captain made the decision, just to bowl spin, just to keep the game going ahead…they posted a pretty good score (over) 120, and we got away with the wicket of Dawid Malan and just kept going.”
Fuller also welcomed the concept behind the NCL’s flagship tournament, stating, “It’s a really, really exciting format and as you can see it’s happening all around the world and since COVID, it sort of ended, suddenly pops up and comeback which is really cool and as a player, this is a really good opportunity which is even better.”
