India Maharajas put in a brilliant performance against Asia Lions, with skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa orchestrating an unbeaten opening partnership of 159 runs to take an emphatic 10-wicket victory, in the fourth match of the LLC Masters at Asian Town Cricket Stadium in Doha. Uthappa was the Player of the Match for the Asia Lions side, scoring an unbeaten 88 off just 39 balls, using 11 fours and 5 sixes. Three of those sixes came in a single against Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Hafeez.
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India Maharajas opted to enter first and limited Asia Lions to 157 for 5 in 20 overs. India Maharajas won the match with 45 balls left.
For Asia Lions, Upul Tharanga cracked 69 off 48 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes, while Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 32 off 27 balls with four boundaries and a six. Together they put up 73 runs and opened a partnership in 8.4 overs, but it was in vain.
India Maharajas won the toss and chose to bowl with their left arm pacer Irfan Pathan, due to his fluid action, conceding just three runs in the first over. The first frontier of the day came from opener Upul Tharanga, which smoothly propelled Ashok Dinda through the covers. Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan ran Dinda for a boundary in the same. Pathan’s third over was equally brilliant, giving away just four runs. Dilshan lifted Dinda to the center fence for yet another boundary, slowly but steadily building a strong opening partnership.
Stuart Binny’s first delivery from the fifth over was nicely cut away by Tharanga to the back punt fence. Tharanga escaped falling behind to an outside edge until the third delivery when wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa dropped him at age 21. Tharanga celebrated his escape by picking up a boundary on the next roll. When Dilshan Binny also hit the square leg, 16 runs came from that over.
Yusuf Pathan came in for the sixth over and Tharanga hit the second ball to the cover point fence and a 50-run partnership came in by the end of the power play. Irfan Pathan was again brought in for the seventh over to check the run count, which he did by giving away just six runs. India Maharajas introduced their strike bowler Harbhajan Singh in the eighth over, and he also gave away only five runs.
Dilshan skipped Binny’s second and third throws of the second for a six over square leg. Then Binny struck with the fourth ball forcing Dilshan on 32 to cut into the air and Irfan Pathan took the catch at short third man. Mohammad Hafeez, going for a wild swing on the surefire Harbhajan, missed the fifth pitch from the tenth over and was judged leg before for 2.
At the halfway point, Asia Lions were 76 for 2 with Misbah Ul Haq, the hero of their first two matches at Tharanga. Ageless 51-year-old leg spinner Pravin Tambe took the valuable wicket from Misbah, brilliantly stunned by wicket-keeper Uthappa for a duck. Now the runflow started to drop and Harbhajan only gave away one run from 12th. Asghar Afghan hit the first pitch of the 15th over from Tambe for a six over long off. Tharanga reached his half-century in 41 balls with six boundaries, but Asghar Afghan got out for Raina for 15.
Tharanga skipped a straight six from Tambe in the 17th and also swept him for a boundary of consecutive balls. He then hit Raina for another six to halfway the wicket but while attempting another similar shot was caught by Manvinder Bisla at wide, long-on for 69. Abdul Razzaq, known for his big shots, hit Dinda for a boundary to a back point and also a six from consecutive balls to remain unbeaten on 27 from 17 balls with two boundaries and two sixes. This also gave Asia Lions a total of over 150 runs.
India Maharajas chased the target with their consistent scorer and skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. They confidently negotiated the pace of Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Amir, with Uthappa choosing two boundaries for Amir’s second over. An elegant cover drive from Gambhir on Tanvir in the third over was a sight to behold. He followed it up with two more consecutive boundaries. When Uthappa also hit Tanvir’s last ball from the third over for a boundary through the covers, 20 runs came from that over. He had also bowled three consecutive balls in that over.
Off spinner Mohammad Hafeez was introduced before the fifth over to control the runflow. Gambhir hit two consecutive boundaries on Hafeez’s fifth and sixth balls to record an opening partnership of 50 runs in five overs.
Left arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who bowled brilliantly against World Giants in the third game, was introduced before the sixth over. Uthappa cut him for a boundary and hit two consecutive boundaries on the fifth and sixth delivery to take 14 runs off. The power play therefore yielded 65 points.
Shoaib Akhtar bowed the seventh, cheered by the crowd. Uthappa pulled his fourth and final delivery for borders with a few in the crowd shouting what had happened to his express deliveries. Hafeez, who bowled the ninth over, was pulled across the center of the wicket to the stands by Uthappa for three successive sixes to race to his half-century in 27 balls. He also chose a boundary and took 23 runs from it. The attack continued against Isuru Udana with Uthappa and Gambhir easily seeking boundaries.
At the halfway point, India Maharajas needed just 33 runs in the last 60 balls. Gambhir reached his half century in 32 balls to send his team to victory with 45 balls left.
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