India Maharajas secured a victory by six wickets (PC: Twitter)
India Maharajas prevailed by six wickets over World Giants in an exhibition match of the Legends League Cricket 2022 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Opting to bat first, Giants were off to a flyer with Kevin O'Brien leading the charge. He added 50 runs for the first wicket before Hamilton Masakadza (18) became a victim of Pankaj Singh.
Joginder Sharma put brakes on O'Brien's momentum to send him back for 52 off 31. The ace spinner Harbhajan Singh bowled a few quiet overs and took the wicket of Jacques Kallis (12) as well.
Afterwards, Denesh Ramdin (42*) and Thisara Perera (23) paved the way for the team to post a competitive total. In the end, Pankaj wreaked havoc to finish with five wickets, and Giants finished on 170/8.
In response to the chase, Maharajas lost the wicket of Virender Sehwag (4) and Parthiv Patel (18) early. Soon, Tim Bresnan got the better of Mohammad Kaif (11) as well, to reduce Maharajas to a score of 50/3.
Tim Bresnan took three wickets (PC: Twitter)
However, Yusuf Pathan continued his blistering form to exude confidence to his partner Tanmay Srivastava as well. The southpaw slammed 54 off 39, with eight fours and a six, and had already put Maharajas to a strong position.
In the end, Irfan Pathan scored 20* off 9, while Yusuf remained unbeaten on 50 off 35 balls to seal the chase, with eight balls to spare.
The fast bowler Tim Bresnan was the wrecker-in-chief for Giants with three scalps.
Brief Scores:
World Giants - 170/8 (20)
Kevin O'Brien 52 (31), Denesh Ramdin 42* (29);
Pankaj Singh 5/26
India Maharajas - 175/4 (18.4)
Tanmay Srivastava 54 (39), Yusuf Pathan 50* (35);
Tim Bresnan 3/21
Result: Maharajas won by 6 wickets
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