Fletcher flexes muscles to rip Tuskers

Abu Dhabi - The Bangla Tigers, representing Bangladesh cricket and the Bangladesh community here in the UAE, undid the Tuskers by five wickets, in the Group A fixture at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

They always say, beware of the wounded tiger. And that maxim held true as the Bangla Tigers hit their way back from their opening defeat to slay the Karnataka Tuskers in the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 League on Sunday night.
The Bangla Tigers, representing Bangladesh cricket and the Bangladesh community here in the UAE, undid the Tuskers by five wickets, in the Group A fixture at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
The Tuskers had raised the benchmark yet again by posting the highest total thus far - 114. But opener Andre Fletcher made a mockery of the total by blazing his way to a peerless knock. The West Indian smoked a 15-ball 40 with five whopping sixes and a lone boundary and the Tuskers wilted under that.
Fletcher laid the perfect foundation and the other batsmen saw them off with seven balls remaining.
The Tigers had lost their opening game to the Deccan Gladiators.
Fletcher was pleased that he could play his part for the team.
"My team needed me to give them a good start. When we finished bowling, my captain said they are 10 runs short so I went out to bat with positive intent and it is good that I could contribute for my team's win and hopefully I can carry on," said Fletcher.
And the West Indian felt proud that he could represent another nation on such a stage.
"Bangladesh, as a nation, love cricket. Representing them in that format it is a pleasure playing for such a team and I just hope that we continue our great work and do best to reach the final and take the trophy," he opined.
Hashim Amla, the Tuskers captain, doffed his hat to Fletcher.
"Fletcher, up front, played a fantastic knock for them. The way he was striking the ball, really, I don't think any ground in the world was big enough for that. He played a fantastic knock that kind of nullified our advantage and credit to him," said Amla.
Nonetheless, Amla was heartened by the fact that they still managed to put up a spirited fight.
"We showed great fight. We knew that defending here is not easy because the wicket seems to get better in the evening. The ball seems to skid on a lot better. But in saying that, they played well and well done to them but we also played a good game of cricket," added the South African.
james@khaleejtimes.com

Brief scores: Karnataka Tuskers: 114 for 1 in 10 overs (Johnson Charles 57, Hashim Amla 47 not out) lost to Bangla Tigers: 117 for 5 in 8.5 overs (Andre Fletcher 40, Tom Moores 28 not out, Rilee Rossouw 22, Robbie Frylinck 13, Sandeep Lamichhane 2-9) by 5 wickets. Man of the Match: Andre Fletcher (Bangla Tigers)