Doha (Qatar), March 16, Chris Gayle during the fifth match of the League of Legends Cricket (LLC) Masters at the Asia City Cricket Stadium. ) led the World Giants to a wicket win over the India Maharajas with a stunning 57.
The legendary West Indies batsman, Gailforth, who is one of his many nicknames, struck nine strong boundaries and six in a 46-ball over. Gayle’s knock was so dominant that after he went down, the World Giants struggled to reach the goal but ultimately won by eight balls on Wednesday night.
The World Giants won the throw and opted to play. India Maharajas had a different set of openings, with Robin Uthappa opening with Manvinder Bisla. Gautam Gambhir, who opened with Uthappa and won the opening partnership with the Asian Lions in an unbeaten 159 in the fourth, was rested. In his absence, leading the team is Harbhajan Singh.
The first boundary of the game came from the blade of Bisla, the hero of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ Indian Premier League title win in the 2012 final, when he hit a scintillating 89. In this game, he went on to hit Brett Lee’s fourth first ball to the center post. Left-arm spinner Samit Patel, who pitched in the second, knocked out Tuesday’s game hero Usapa, forcing the fourth to hit captain Aaron Finch at midcourt for five runs.
Bisla went on to hit the first ball of the third over from Lee to the middle wicket for another boundary and batted Patel to the backward square fence for his third boundary. Chris Mpofu put Reetinder Sodhi out quickly on the first ball of the fifth period, forcing him to pull into the hands of goalkeeper Morne van Wyk on the upper edge.
Suresh Raina went wide on the first ball he faced when Mpofu flicked past the keeper. In the sixth, Raina hit Monty Panesar for six after walking off the track. At the end of the power game, the scoreboard showed 42-2.
Chris Gayle hit a fine seven and allowed just six, but left-arm spinner Monty Panesar threw in the eighth for a straight Twice hit by Reina for six. The first six were hit for deep mid-wickets, followed by straight sixes. Tino Best tied the batsman and they gave up a single and only four runs. While Mpofu also conceded just five runs from the 10th inning, the Indian Maharaja went 73 for 2 and needed some big hits to speed up the running process.
Tino Best scored well from the wicket in the 11th, while Panesar batted in the 12th to allow Bisla to hit a chip, And lead goalkeeper Van Wyk (wicketkeeper van Wyk) with 36 points. His 34-pitch hit has four boundaries.
Yusuf Pathan escaped Ross Taylor’s deep extra screen at Best with a 3. Pathan was unlucky on his fourth pitch of the game, when he threw a pinpoint short pass to Lee from the deep square leg while going forward for a pull. Best replaced Stuart Binney on the next delivery, who was caught by Finch on the first slip.
Ricardo Powell replaced Monty Panesar as the impact player and could have knocked Reina out at 37 had Finch kept up his strong shot off cover. India Maharajas surpassed 100 in the 15th innings by six runs from Irfan Pathan. Pathan also hit Powell over 6 points. A fine 49-run run came to an end when Raina pulled Lee toward Taylor in the 19th over. His 41 pitches had two boundaries and three sixes.
In the middle wicket of the next ball, Lee also allowed Mohammad Khaf to be caught by Hashim Amra. On the last ball, Lee also forced Irfan Pathan to pass the ball to the keeper for 25 runs. In Mpofu’s last over, he conceded just two runs and Harbhajan Singh was also caught by Finch for two runs. India Maharajas could only muster 136 for 9 in 20 overs. In the last five matches, the Indian Maharaja could only score 32 runs and conceded four wickets.
World Giants opener Gale responded by hitting Irfan Pathan’s first ball over the screen boundary and hitting another boundary at mid-range with a third. Made a positive start. He also deciphered Harbhajan Singh’s fourth and fifth out-of-bounds passes – first through screens and then through screen spots. Opener Hashim Amla, at No. 1, escaped the first ball which was caught by Binny in the middle to Irfan Pathan’s third as the ball popped out on a diving attempt.
Gayle continued to pick boundaries with ease, smashing Pathan into two boundaries for deep extra cover and another for third man. With 42 overs, Amla has six runs ahead of Ashok Dinda. Shane Watson joined Gayle, who continued to execute his power shots. He knocked Tinda down a boundary, a six and two consecutive boundaries in the sixth inning for 19 runs in the inning. powerplay produced 72 runs.
Pravin Tambe, who came out in the seventh, was not spared either, with Watson picking boundaries on his first and last pitches. Gale ran his half century with 26 balls, nine boundaries and six off the ball. Watson became the second wicket to fall when Tambe bowled him for 26 in the second ball of the ninth innings. Harbhajan also swept Finch and led Tambe by five. In the last ten games, the World Giants need 38 points.
Tambe finished an excellent 11th with one drop, beating a well-set-up Gayle several times. Ross Taylor attempted a hard hit off Yusuf Pathan but was hit by a fine catch from Raina in the deep end for seven. Samit Patel hit Raina’s back-to-back boundaries in the 15th over, but he hit Gayle’s leg for over 57 before the final ball.
Yusuf Pathan hit Patel for 12 when 12 was needed. Ricardo Powell scored three before Morne van Wyk hit the winning line near Irfan Pathan.
Brief scores: Maharaja 9 for 136 over 20 overs (Suresh Raina 49, Manvinder Bisla 36; Brett Lee 3 for 18, Chris Mpofu 2 for 22) Lost 7 for 139 over 18.4 overs For World Giants (Chris Gayle 57, Shane Watson 26; Yusuf Pathan 2 for 14) was hit by 3 wickets.
–IANS
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