Abu Dhabi: Six-hitting specialist and aggressive batsman Chris Lynn lifted Maratha Arabians to another impressive win in the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 League at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
His knock of 89 studded with nine sixes and five boundaries came off just 33 balls and helped his team post a whopping total of 146-4 in their 10 overs.
Lynn leads the six-hitting table with 22 monsters from five matches and also tops in boundary hits with 21 so far.
No other batsman has hit so many big shots with the next best being 12 sixes and 12 boundaries.
Chasing the highest total of the T10 League this season, Delhi Bulls could muster only 116-3 despite Kusal Perera’s unbeaten 45 and Sherfane Rutherford’s 41.
Answering to a query from Gulf News on how he hits sixes with such ease, Lynn said: “I see the ball and hit the ball. I know if I make good contact with the ball, and if the boundaries aren’t big enough it will go. But again, knowing or having half an idea where the bowler is going to bowl is a big part of the game. So, in this game, I do that really well and if you are one step ahead of the bowler and then if you put him under pressure early in the over then, more likely than not, you are going to win that over. So, keep it simple, keep your head still and swing as hard as you can.”
Bulls’ renowned coach Stephen Fleming too hailed Lynn’s ability. “Lynn has got lot of strength,” he said. “We could not negate him and get him out. Lynn is in the form of free hit. He is one of the type of players that once he gets into his hitting rhythm it is very hard to stop him. The first three overs were damaging for us.”
Lynn, who is also the captain of the Arabians team, revealed that aggression if the key to his team’s success. “Aggressive cricket is the mindset with which that I play and our team plays.” he said. “Cricket is a game where you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you don’t need to play all the fancy shots. I keep things very simple, that’s working for me.”
Lynn, who is the highest scorer of the tournament so far with 265 runs from five matches, added: “I don’t really look at the scoreboard, to be honest. It is more about I know in my mind how many runs we have got off that over. In this format, you got to be 10-plus generally and really utilise the power play as well. So, just go over by over and also communicate with your partner as well. We tend to go with a right-hand, left-hand combination through our batting line-up and that certainly helps with the shorter boundaries or with a certain spinner on. Again, we are not reinventing the wheel, we are just executing better than the other team at the moment.”
Brief scores:
Maratha Arabians bt Delhi Bulls by 30 runs.
Maratha Arabians 146-4 in 10 overs (Chris Lynn 89, Adam Lyth 20; Ravi Rampaul 2-27, Ali Khan 2-15)
Delhi Bulls 116-3 in 10 overs (Kusal Perera 45n.o, Sherfane Rutherford 41)
