Welcome to Sportstar‘s Coverage of the Legends League Cricket match between India Maharajas and World Giants. This is Lalith Kalidas bringing you the updates as action unfurls at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman.

SCORE

WGS 216/4 in 19 overs: Rhodes find the boundary on either side of the wicket behind square as he waits patiently to connect on Binny’s slower deliveries.  The Giants march past 200 and captain Yusuf Pathan’s face paints a worrying look. Short from Binny and Jonty hammers him over mid-wicket for SIX!

WGS 198/4 in 18 overs: Rhodes struggles to find his timing and Munaf keeps him pinned to the crease with a tight line outside the off-stump. A quiet over in the context of the game.

Munaf into the attack

WGS 194/4 in 17 overs: Bhatia wafts one in and Gibbs muscles it handsomely over mid-wicket for SIX. Edged and gone! Bhatia’s off-cutter foxes Gibbs, finally. He falls on 89 after a belligerent display of batting that certainly swung us back in time. Jonty Rhodes in at 6.

Herschelle Gibbs c †Ojha b Bhatia 89 (46b 7×4 7×6)

WGS 187/3 in 16 overs: Short and wide from Binny and yet O’brien finds the power to slap it over long-off for SIX! Binny wafts in the leg-cutter and the bottom edge from O’brien parries straight to Pathan at short third man.  A phenomenal cameo from the Irish superstar has propelled the Giants into a brilliant position. Albie Morkel in at 5.

Kevin O’Brien c IK Pathan b Binny 34 (14b 5×6)

Binny returns

WGS 177/2 in 15 overs: O’brien creams the straight boundary with three massive SIXES! Predictable bowling from Salvi and its even more misery for the Indians as Jaffer drops a dolly off the Irishman at short third man.

WGS 157/2 in 14 overs: Bhatia hits the slot and O’brien lifts him for SIX over long-on. The Giants coast past 150 and the pressure continues to mount on the Indian bowlers..

WGS 144/2 in 13 overs: Gibbs bludgeons Irfan’s first delivery for another FOUR down the ground. Irfan slides one across and Gibbs doesn’t even budge to have a look at it as he swats it past backward square for another FOUR. Talk about some Proteas flair! Pathan drops short and Gibbs once again lifts him over the fence for SIX. The Giants rampage continues to decimate the Indians.

WGS 129/2 in 12 overs: Bhatia’s lack of pace prompts Gibbs and new man O’brien to drop their anchors. No width on offer and the batters exchange strike through singles.

WGS 126/2 in 11 overs: Irfan strikes rightaway! A cheeky slider from Irfan and Mustard sends one straight up. Irfan settles beneath to complete a simple catch and the Maharajas have finally broken the deadly partnership. Gibbs gets to his FIFTY with another solid strike down the ground for SIX!

Phil Mustard c & b IK Pathan 57 (33b 5×4 4×6)

Irfan Pathan into the attack

WGS 115/1 in 10 overs: Boundaries galore as Gibbs flicks Bhandari past square for FOUR before Mustard pulls him over the mid-wicket fence for SIX. Gibbs continues his onslaught as he slaps a length delivery from Bhandari past long-on for FOUR.

TIMEOUT

WGS 99/1 in 9 overs: Mustard gets to his FIFTY with a bang!  A cracking SIX over mid-wicket and Bhatia tapers off after a fine start. The Giants will head into the break with momentum on their side. Plenty to ponder for the Indians.

Rajat Bhatia replaces Chopra

WGS 86/1 in 8 overs: Mustard welcomes Bhandari with a FOUR! Mustard is on fire as he is charges on the bowler for another boundary.

Amit Bhandari into the attack

WGS 74/1 in 7 overs: Chopra is back and Gibbs dismisses a tossed up delivery straight over the bowler for another SIX. Chopra mixes up his pace and the batters seem to have some trouble unleashing their strokes against the offie.

WGS 64/1 in 6 overs: Gibbs in his element! Salvi hits the deck hard and Gibbs nonchalantly slaps him over mid-off for SIX. Salvi drops short and Mustard ensures a cracking finish to the Powerplay with a massive thud over mid-wicket for another SIX!

Salvi replaces Munaf

WGS 50/1 in 5 overs: A fine over from Binny as Mustard, Gibbs are forced to play through the line as he attacks the stumps. Fifty up for the Giants inside the Powerplay.

Binny returns

WGS 44/1 in 4 overs: The Giants are going bonkers! Gibbs welcomes Patel with two thumping sixes down the ground. Patel fends short to Mustard who whips it past mid-wicket for another maximum to finish the over.

WGS 25/1 in 3 overs: Mustard unleashes a couple of sweeps and sends Chopra to the boundary. The Giants are hoping to maintain the aggression to keep the Indians in check.

Chopra replaces Binny

WGS 17/1 in 2 overs: Munaf to KP. Bowled him! Pietersen makes room but misses a straighter one from Munaf. The ball smashes into the stumps and the Indians have got the danger man. Gibbs walks in at 3. Patel cramps him for room and pins him to the crease.

Munaf Patel from the opposite end

WGS 16/0 in 1 over: A loud shot first-ball as Binny beats the outside-edge off Pietersen and Ojha flicks the bails in a flash while standing up to the stumps. NOT OUT says the third-umpire. That was a pretty close call to start things off tonight. A hint of shape and Pietersen gets an outside-edge racing down to third-man for FOUR. A single down the ground and Mustard gets into the act with a lofted drive over cover for FOUR. Pietersen’s back on strike and he clubs Binny down the ground for a SIX! KP on the roll, straightaway!

Pietersen and Mustard to open for the Giants. Stuart Binny with the new ball.

7-56PM IST: Yusuf Pathan leads the talk in the India huddle.

India XI: Naman Ojha (w), Wasim Jaffer, S Badrinath, Yusuf Pathan (c), Irfan Pathan, Stuart Binny, Nikhil Chopra, Rajat Bhatia, Amit Bhandari, Aavishkar Salvi, Munaf Patel

World Giants XI: Kevin Pietersen, Herschelle Gibbs, Phil Mustard(w), Jonty Rhodes, Albie Morkel, Kevin O Brien, Daren Sammy(c), Morne Morkel, Brett Lee, Monty Panesar, Ryan Jay Sidebottom

TOSS: India wins toss, opts to bowl

Toss time! Yusuf to lead India.

6-56PM IST: The best of KP! Pietersen rolled back the years as he thrashed the Asia Lions last night. Will he be the thorn in India’s hopes tonight?

6-54PM IST: We’re going down to the wire to decide the finalists of LLC 2022 tonight. Can the Indians topple the odds and earn their spot?

Match Review – India Maharajas vs Asia Lions

India Maharajas suffered yet another defeat as it went down to a resurgent Asian Lions by 36 runs in the Legends League Cricket tournament in Muscat on Monday.

In a massive dent to its final hopes, the Mohammed Kaif-led side was dominated by the Lions who put up a solid 193 for four on the board, with half-centuries from Upul Tharanga and Asghar Afghan.

After being sent into bat by India, the Lions were off to a dismal start as Stuart Binny dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan off the first ball of the innings while fellow opener Kaluwitharana (13) fell soon after.

In its reply, the Indians never got going as they lost the in-form Naman Ojha (4) to Shoaib Akhtar in the third over of the chase. While Wasim Jaffer rolled out a couple of fine strokes to keep the scoreboard ticking, before eventually holing out on 35 (25b). Yusuf Pathan (21), Stuart Binny (25) got off to firm starts but failed to capitalise, while an injured skipper Kaif’s stop-start innings did little to elevate the chase.

Brief Scores: IMR 157/8 in 20 overs (Gony 35*, Jaffer 35; Kulasekera 2/14) lost to ASL 193/4 in 20 overs (Tharanga 72, Asghar 69*; Bhandari 2/41) by 36 runs.

FULL REPORT:
Legends League Cricket 2022: Tharanga, Asghar shine as Asia Lions thrash India Maharajas

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Squads

Where to watch India Maharajas vs World Giants, Legends League Cricket 2022 match?

The live broadcast of the Legends League Cricket 2022 will be available on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 . You can catch the live commentary on Sportstar.