Abdul Razzaq also fell, pulling Binny to Yusuf Pathan for 2. The first ball of the last over from Binny was hit by Perera for a six over long-on into the crowd, but he fell to the next ball giving Kaif his third catch at long-on. Asghar then hit Dinda for a six-over mid-wicket in the 19th over. Perera also hit Binny over long-on for a six in the 18th over. Thisara Perera accelerated the run flow, hitting Irfan Pathan for a mighty six-over long-on off the fourth ball of the 17th over to steer Asia Lions past the 150-run mark. Running to his left towards long-off, Kaif produced another diving catch to end Hafeez's knock that came off 24 balls with two fours and three sixes. In the 16th over, though Hafeez slog-swept the first ball from Tambe for a six, he fell to the third ball to yet another brilliant catch from Kaif for 38. Irfan Pathan was re-introduced for the 15th over and he bowled a tighter over yielding just three runs. Pravin Tambe, who was introduced as an impact player in place of Harbhajan Singh, bowled the 14th over. He also hit Ojha's last ball of the 11th over for a straight six. Hafeez also hit Harbhajan's last ball of the 12th over too for a six by slog sweeping over a deep square leg. Asghar Afghan hit the first ball he faced from Ojha for a straight six over long-off. Ojha struck again in the 11th over to have Dilshan drive straight into the hands of Suresh Raina at long-off for 27. At the halfway mark, Asia Lions were 94 for 1. Next man Mohammad Hafeez punished Harbhajan for two boundaries off the first and third deliveries - the first was a cut shot to the third man and the second a pull to deep mid-wicket. The agile Kaif dived full length and pulled off a one-handed catch to prove that he stands tall even now as one of India's finest fielders. Tharanga reached his half-century off 30 balls and got out to the next ball from Pragyan Ojha, brilliantly caught by Mohammad Kaif at extra cover. Harbhajan Singh, who bowled the eighth over gave away 12 runs. The opening pair used the powerplay to score 58 runs with Tharanga in full flow scoring 40 of those runs and Dilshan on 10. Stuart Binny replaced the costly Yusuf Pathan, and Dilshan, who was playing second fiddle to Tharanga, hit his first boundary through an elegant flick. What followed was a fine battle to dominate the bowling. He also hit the fourth ball for another boundary to deep cover and the last ball for yet another boundary past mid-on to take 18 runs off that over. Tharanga hit Yusuf Pathan, who was introduced for the fourth over, for two consecutive boundaries off the first two balls through extra cover. The first aggressive shot came from Tharanga, who lifted Pathan's fourth delivery of the third over for a straight six and the next ball for a boundary to long-off. Ashok Dinda too bowled tight giving away just five runs. Except for a blemish with the second ball from Irfan Pathan, which resulted in five wides when wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa also failed to collect, all other deliveries from him were spot on. Openers Tharanga and Dilshan began slowly but they grew in strength with every over. The Asia Lions will meet the World Giants in the title clash on Monday.Īsia Lions won the toss and elected to bat. Together they put on an 83 runs partnership in 8.5 overs to set the base for a huge total on Saturday night. The architects of Asia Lions' victory were opener Upul Tharanga, who cracked 50 off 31 balls with seven boundaries and a six, and his partner Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored a run-a-ball 27 runs. India Maharajas supporters had nothing to cheer about except for their skipper Gautam Gambhir's elegant knock of 32. Doha (Qatar), Mar 19 (IANS): Asia Lions roared past India Maharajas with a clinical all-round performance, registering a dominating 85-run win in the eliminator to reach the finals of Legends League Cricket (LLC) Masters at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium, here.īatting first, Asia Lions posted a whopping total of 191 for 5 in 20 overs and then bowled out India Maharajas for a paltry 106 runs in 16.4 overs.
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