Qualifier 1: Chicago CC in Final of Sixty Strikes after Defeating LA Waves, Thanks to Top Order Fireworks

Chris Lynn’s dominating batting ensured Chicago put a huge total on the board, LA fell 15 runs short

Man of the match Chris Lynn in action during the Qualifier 1 against LA Waves / NCL.

By Rifat Malik and Haider Abbas

Playing XI

Chicago CC: Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Mikyle Louis, Leonardo Julien, Simon Harmer, Michael Leask, Ian Souness, Sohail Tanvir, Karthik Gatepalli, Kaleem Sana, Rehman Qaiser

LA Waves: George Munsey (wk), Stevie Eskinazi, Tim David, Joe Burns, Majjid Zubair, Rishi Ramesh, Waqas Saleem, Rumman Raees, Tymal Mills (C), Todd Astle, Jagpreet Singh

Dominating Start by the Chicago top order, Tanvir Finishes off the innings on a high

Qualifier one of the National Cricket League Sixty Strikes was played between the Chicago CC and Los Angeles Waves CC. Chicago CC finished the group stage on top of the table with four wins out of five whereas LA Waves finished second with three wins. Both teams have some serious talent on their team sheet. Waves have players like Tim David from Australia, English Stars Joe Burns and Tymal Mills, and George Munsey from Scotland. On the other hand, Chicago CC, who has been excellent throughout the tournament, has the services of Robin Uthappa from India, Chris Lynn from Australia, and the T20 bowling specialist, Sohail Tanvir, from Pakistan.

Chicago CC batted first, with their top order in some top form. Lynn and Uthappa have been the most successful partnership in the league, with both the batsmen dominating the bowlers from the first ball. Uthappa started the innings with a bang, scoring 33 off just 11 balls. After his dismissal, Lynn took charge and things went from bad to worse for the LA bowlers. He was in blistering form as he took the team total to 145 in 8.3 overs. His innings of 69 consisted of 6 sixes and 7 fours. Julien and Tanvir ended the innings in style, taking the team total to 167. LA bowlers were disappointing, as none had an economy of less than 12.

Good Fight by LA Batters but Fail to Reach Target

LA had a very disappointing start as their star batsman, Tim David, got out on the first ball of the innings. Stevie Eskinazi and Joe Burns made a good 34-run partnership, giving some hope to their side. However, the target set by Chicago was a bit too much, despite good batting by the middle order. Roman Raees (26) and Astle (19) made a last-ditch effort to rescue the match but to no avail. Chicago CC could only score 152 in the end, losing the game by 15 runs.  Karthik Gatepalli was once again brilliant with the ball in hand, taking three important wickets.

Man of the Match

Not surprisingly Lynn was chosen as man of the match for his fantastic innings of 69 with a strike rate of 246.