The Asia Lions, led by Shahid Afridi, have defeated the India Maharajas, captained by Gautam Gambhir, in a gripping Legends League Cricket (LLC) match on Friday in Doha.
When batting first, the Lions set a respectable 166-run total with six wickets lost in 20 overs. Misbahul Haq, former Pakistani skipper, scored the team’s highest total with 73 off 50 balls followed by Upul Tharanga (20) and Shahid Afridi (12).
The Maharajas, who included former all-stars Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina and Yousuf Pathan struggled to score much in the chase. Only the captain stood out with a high score of 54 followed by Murali Vijay’s 25 and Kaif’s 22. They reached 156 but fell nine runs short after losing eight wickets.
With four wickets, Sohail Tanvir emerged as the top wicket-taker for the Lions with Isuru Udana, Dilshan, Perara and Razzaq each claiming one. Afridi, the captain, could not take any wickets.
Irfan Pathan and Ashok Dinda both only claimed one wicket, while Stuart Binny and Parvinder Awana each removed two batsmen.
Misbahul Haq was chosen player of the match for his scorching 73, which enabled his team to thoroughly dominate the opposition.
Teams included as follows:
Asia Lions:
Shahid Afridi (captain), Abdul Razzaq, Asghar Afghan, Abdur Razzak, TM Dilshan, P. Khadka, Misbah-ul-Haq, NLTC Perera, Sohail Tanvir, W.U. Tharanga and I. Udana
Indian Maharajas:
G. Gambhir (C), Vijay, STR Binny, AB Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, M. Kaif, IK Pathan, YK Pathan, SK Raina, PV Tambe and RV Uthappa.
Asia Lions, India Maharajas and World Giants are three of the LLC’s teams each of which is made up of former world-class athletes.
The tournament’s first season got under way on March 10 and will last until March 20.
