MUSCAT: The Indian Maharajas clashed with the World Giants in the third match at the Legends League Cricket 2022 between Al Amerat Cricket Grounds (Ministry Turf 1), Al Amerat today.
World Giants beat the Indian Maharajas by 3 wickets chasing 209 runs.
The World Giants won the toss and opted to bowl.
The World Giants Playing XI today was Kevin Pietersen, Kevin O Brien, Jonathan Trott, Corey Anderson, Brad Haddin (wk), Daren Sammy (c), Albie Morkel, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Ryan Jay Sidebottom, Matthew Hoggard
The Indian Maharajas Playing XI today was Naman Ojha (wk), Stuart Binny, Wasim Jaffer, S Badrinath, Mohammad Kaif (c), Yusuf Pathan, Hemang Badani, Venugopal Rao, RP Singh, Manpreet Gony, Munaf Patel
World Giants opening bowler R J Sidebottom picked up the wickets of Jaffer and Badrinath not allowing them to bother the score card. Naman Ojha joined with Skipper Kaif to display batting brilliance. Ojha played a power packed innings of 140 runs off 69 balls. He hit 15 boundaries and 9 sixers. Ojha and Kaif shared a record partnership of 187 runs. The Maharajas reached 209 runs for three wickets in the allotted 20 overs with a six from Yousuf Pathan’s bat in the last ball of the innings.
For the Giants, former English player Kevin Pieterson played his elegant strokes to contribute 53 runs off 27 balls. However the Giants never looked as if they will reach the target since the Maharajas kept taking valuable wickets. By the 14th over, Giants were at 130 runs for 6 wickets with Skipper Sammy out for 28 runs off 11 balls. Morne Morkel (21 runs off 15 balls) and Imran Thahir tried their best to get closer to the target of 209 runs. Imran Thahir took it upon himself to take a giant stride to go past the winning line. A powerhouse batting was displayed by Thahir with 52 runs off 19 balls (strike rate of over 200). Thahir hit 5 sixers in his match winning knock and Giants reached 210 runs for 7 wickets with 3 balls remaining.
Imran Thahir will not be seen in the future Legends matches since he will be flying to Pakistan to join the Pakistan Super League.
Each team has won one match each and the contest stands at an interesting juncture before the second round of matches. Centurion Ojha was named the player of the match. The next match is scheduled on 24th January (Monday) at 8 pm IST between Indian Maharajas and Asian Lions. (RZ)
