(khaleejtimes)-With 215 runs under his belt in four matches, Andre Fletcher is – without doubt – the toast of the T10 League, which is on at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The West Indian is nicely perched atop the scoring charts. He has been instrumental in Pakthoons winning the last three of their four matches, and is looking dangerous and unstoppable.
Fletcher is also second only to his countrymate Nicholas Pooran as far as hitting maximums is concerned. The 30-year-old has sent the ball 17 times over the ropes, sometimes even outside the stadium, compared to the 23-year-old Pooran’s 18 sixes for Norther Warriors.
Colin Ingram was all praise for his teammate. “He (Fletcher) is definitely on a run just playing with that Caribbean flair, hitting it long and straight, like most West Indian batsmen do.”
Colin said the team picked up well after their first defeat to Kerala Knights.
“We are taking it game by game. Obviously we did not have a good start in our first game but it has been good after that. Our batsmen have been putting runs on the board and with our bowling attack we have been going boom, boom,” the South African added.
Luke Wright, who was on the receiving end on Monday with Bengal Tigers after Fletcher hit 47 from 18, said: “I think it’s that kind of tournament, if you get that confidence you can be on a solid run, but you can also find it hard if you get on the other way. But, no, he (Fletcher) has been hitting the ball beautifully. And when you are playing well you have a little bit of luck on your side. So we will have to get better for the next time.”
Wright also praised Pakhtoons’ bowlers. “I thought they bowled well, obviously, and secondly losing wickets in this tournament is always tough.
“You can be three down at the most going into the last few overs, that’s when you get the big totals. It was a top wicket but on the slower side.”
The Englishman thought Sherfane Rutherford’s runout was crucial. The West Indian was looking comfortable in the middle when he unnecessarily ran himself out for 24.
“I think Rutherford’s run out was a turning point. He is a big player, he’s been in good form and I think even if we had got 120 with a start like what Fletcher gave his team, then I think it would have been a very good game.
“It seems in this tournament that you either beat teams very easily or you lose very badly. So we will look to put things right in the next games,” he concluded.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com
