National Cricket League (NCL) Sixty Strikes delivered yet another nail-biting thriller match for all the fans around the world. In Match no 11, New York Lions defeated Texas Gladiators by four runs. Asked to bat first, New York posted a total of 116/8 in 10 overs with Ben Cutting playing a brilliant knock of 44 off 18 balls. Later, the Gladiators tired their level best to put up a good fight but got restricted to 112/9 and ended up losing the game by four runs.
Asked to bat, the Suresh Rain-led side started off on a good note with openers Upul Tharanga (20) Mohammad Hafeez (16) forming a good partnership. Their stand was broken on 41 after Hafeez was dismissed by Shahid Afridi.
Suresh Raina also departed for 1 before Tharanga gave his wicket to Usman Rafiq in the fourth over. After losing the wickets of Dominic Drakes (3) and Manvinder Bisla (1) cheaply, New York took a sigh of relief with Asad Shafiq smashing 20 off 8 balls.
Later in the chase, The Gladiators could manage to score only 112 runs and lost the match by runs. For Gladiators, Wahab Riaz was the top-scorer with 37* off 13 balls. Nick Kelly scored 25 off 15 balls while Kennar Lewis scored 20 off 6 balls.
For the Lions, Hafeez and skipper Suresh Raina scalped two wickets each. Apart from them, Dominic Drakes and Oshane Thomas also took one wicket each.
For the Gladiators, Usma Rafiq was the star bowler as he registered the figures 3/11in two overs. Apart from him, Nisarg Patel also registered a three-wicket haul.