Tigers captain Fletcher praises players after victory over Arabians

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

An ecstatic Andre Fletcher was full of adulation for his players after Bangla Tigers defeated defending champions Maratha Arabians by six wickets in their Abu Dhabi T10 match on Saturday.

Tigers opened their account in the tournament and moved to second spot in their group with two points.

Chasing a competitive target of 105, Tigers knocked down the winning run for the loss of just four wickets with 12 balls remaining.

Opener Johnson Charles and captain Andre Fletcher set the tone for a successful chase with a 33-run stand for the first wicket.

“Today wicket was on a bit slower side and the total was not that big as well. So, I did not want to take any risk yet tried my level best to bat as deep as possible.

“Johnson is doing his job at the top. It is not that I am the captain, so I am playing like that but when he is hitting the ball, it is fine,” said Fletcher.

Johnson also stressed it is good to see the middle–order getting a chance to flex their muscles.

“I have full confidence in the middle-order and all of them chipped in with useful contributions. Hossian played well, Suri also hit a quick-fire 7-ball 19. It is good to see them finally getting a chance to bat,” he added.

Charles scored 11-ball 23, Fletcher scored 31 off 16 deliveries while Afif Hossain collected 22 from 10 balls.

Earlier, Arabians failed to capitalise on their unbeaten opening partnership between Mohammad Hafeez and UAE’s Abdul Shakoor. Despite not losing any wicket, they could manage to reach only 104 in their stipulated 10 overs.

“You have to play hard and aggressive as it the shortest format and I believe a strike rate of over 200-250 is good in this format,” said Hafeez.

Hafeez remained unbeaten after smacking a blitzkrieg 61 off 30 balls and while Shakoor played painstakingly slow, scoring 30-ball 34.