The New Zealand duo of Ben Russell and James Neesham proved that they can do wonders in white-ball cricket. Having done brilliantly with the bat and the ball for the Kiwis over the years, Neesham put his exemplary all-round skills to full use as Atlanta Kings defeated Chicago in the National Cricket League 2024 Sixty Strikes tournament. Pace bowler Russell, on the other hand, did the unthinkable as he bowled two maiden overs in the game while emerging as the top wicket-taker for his side Atlanta Kings. The T10 format has given cricket, as a game, a new dimension, and the NCL is taking it to a new level, thanks to the global superstars playing in the tournament.

On Saturday, Atlanta did very well against Chicago, putting a score of 88/6 on the board in 10 overs, with wicket-keeper batter Tom Moores leading the scoring charts. He contributed 34 runs off 20 balls with the bat. Neesham was the other top-scoring batter for the side, scoring 16 runs off just 9 balls as he remained unbeaten till the end.

No other Atlanta batter managed to get into double digits. For Chicago, Simon Harmer was the pick of the bowlers, bagging 3 wickets for 18 runs in the match.

Chasing the target of 89 runs, Chicago got off to a poor start, with former India opener Robin Uthappa being dismissed for just 8 runs off 6 balls while Australian cricketer Chris Lynn incurred a 2-ball duck.

Simon Harmer, Sohail Tanvir, and Michael Leask were the only Chicago batters who got into double-digit scores, contributing 15, 16, and 11 runs respectively as their side was restricted to 65/7 in the match.

Atlanta, hence, won the match by a comprehensive margin of 23 runs. Ben Russell was the pick of the bowlers for the side, bagging 3 wickets for zero runs in the match. Both his owners were maidens. Angelo Mathews, James Neesham, and Shubman Chopra scalped one wicket each in the match.