The inaugural edition of the World Championship of Legends concluded with the India Champions winning the final.
A month ago, on June 9th, India won over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. Now, a month later, India has once again defeated Pakistan in cricket, but this time, the heroes were veterans. The Indian Champions defeated the Pakistan Champions by 5 wickets to win the inaugural season of the World Championship of Legends on Saturday.
On the Birmingham ground, after batting first, the Pakistan Champions scored 156/6 in 20 overs. Thanks to Shoaib Malik, with his knock of 41 runs off 36 balls, the team managed to reach a manageable total. However, with Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf Pathan’s blistering knocks, India Champions achieved the target in the last over.
Rayudu and Gurkeerat’s crucial partnership fuels a fightback
India’s chase got off to a shaky start. Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu opened the batting, but Uthappa was dismissed after scoring just 10 runs in the second over. The same over by Aamer Yamin saw Suresh Raina depart for just 4 runs, leaving India with two wickets down by the end of the third over.
However, Ambati Rayudu and Gurkeerat Singh Mann, batting at number 4, formed a crucial partnership that revived the innings. Ambati Rayudu anchored the innings with a brilliant 50 runs, while Gurkeerat Singh provided valuable support. Gurkeerat chipped in with a commendable 34 runs.
Pathan finish it off
After the fall of 4 wickets, Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh came to the crease, guiding India towards victory. They devised a strategy where Yusuf would attack while Yuvraj played defensively. Yusuf scored an impressive 30 runs off just 16 balls. However, just as he was on the verge of finishing the game, he was caught on the boundary, falling short of clearing it.
Although, in the end, it was a Pathan who finished the match. In the last over, when 2 runs were needed, Irfan Pathan sent the ball towards the boundary and won the match for India.
Anureet stole the show with bowling
India’s bowling attack deserves credit for keeping the pressure on Pakistan throughout the innings.
Right-arm pacer Anureet Singh was the pick of the bowlers, taking a crucial three wickets, including the early wicket of Sharjeel Khan, Aamer Yamin, and Shoaib Malik’s crucial wicket. Vinay Kumar, Pawan Negi, and the turbinator Harbhajan Singh each took a wicket, restricting Pakistan to a score that India can chase down.
Shoaib Malik’s knock helped Pakistan.
Openers Kamran Akmal (24 runs) and Sharjeel Khan (12 runs) got Pakistan off to an okay start, but couldn’t score big. Things got tougher when Pakistan lost 3 wickets by the 9th over.
That’s when Shoaib Malik stepped up. He played a careful innings, scoring 41 runs on 36 balls and helping Pakistan recover a bit.
His knock provided much-needed stability for Pakistan, which was looking vulnerable. Other batsmen, like Shoaib Maqsood (21 runs), chipped in with some useful runs.
Pakistan suffered another blow when Misbah-ul-Haq, who was looking good (18 runs), had to retire due to a hamstring injury. Aamer Yamin (7 runs) and the duo of Shahid Afridi (4 runs) and Sohail Tanvir (19* runs) managed some late runs to take Pakistan to a somewhat defendable total.
Editors pick
