That is the coverage of the Match 15 of Legends League Cricket 2024 between Manipal Tigers and Gujarat Greats. For now, this is me Aditya Agarwal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Arjun Bhalla, who, alongside our scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer brought you all the live action of this fixture. We will meet again. Until then, cheers!
Harbhajan Singh (Winning Captain): "Not too bad. We are getting the right result. Well, once we finished with our bowling, we got an idea of how to play and how not to. We wanted to make sure that we won the game on a priority basis.
He is very good with the ball; he has proven everyone wrong that it doesn't matter whether there is a left-hander or a right-hander. (On Praveen Gupta's spell) It's good to have a laugh in the end.
We need to make sure to have a good time together and then come back stronger."
Legend of the Match - Praveen Gupta
Time for the presentation ceremony.
Shikhar Dhawan (Losing Captain): "Hard loss. I think both the teams tried to target the powerplays, but they outdid us in both the powerplays. Yeah, we still are left with some hope (talking about making it to the knockouts). Chris Gayle was brilliant, (but) he will be batting at number 3. I won't be moving from the opening positions (chuckles)."
18:12 IST and Local Time | An all-round show from Manipal Tigers as they win by 5 wickets against Gujarat Greats, bags 2 crucial points for themselves.
Here's a review of what happened in the match.
Earlier, Gujarat Greats won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first , they got off to a worse start as they lost their top order inside first 22 balls. Chris Gayle came in and made a quickfire 14 off 5 balls but his innings was cut short by Praveen Gupta.
The pitch was offering turn for the spinners and was on the slow side as well. Wicket fell at regular intervals for the Gujarat Greats. However, Mohammad Kaif held one end and batted really well for his innings of 34. Seekkuge Prasanna and Debrata Das then some smashed some lusty blows in the end and helped their side to get to a respectable score of 131-allout.
Praveen Gupta was the pick of the bowlers for his team as he bagged 2 wickets in his 4 overs and gave away 27 runs.
Chasing 132, Manipal Tigers got off to a flier of a start as they ended the powerplay with a score of 57/2. Angelo Perera and Manoj Tiwary then stitched a steady 25 run stand for the third wicket.
But both the batters were dismissed shortly. Manan Sharma then bowled a tight 11th over and bagged 2 quick wickets to give some hope for his side.
Thisara Perera and Asela Gunaratne then made sure there aren't any more hiccups for the chase. The duo put up a match winning 51* run partnership for the 6th wicket and seals the deal for their team. Thisara Perera top scored with 38* runs off 22 ball.
Manan Sharma was the standout bowler as he picked up 3 wickets in his quota of 4 overs. Stay tuned for the presentation coming up shorty!
OVER 17
Manipal Tigers
137/5
Thisara Perera
38(22)
Asela Gunaratne
13(14)
Liam Plunkett
0-23(2.0)
16.6 L Plunkett to T Perera
6 SIXXX!! Perera finishes things off in style! Manipal Tigers win by 5 wickets with 18 balls to spare. Full delivery outside off, Perera lines himself up and whacks it over deep mid wicket for a match winning six.
The scores are levelled! The upcoming ball could be the last of the innings!
16.5 L Plunkett to T Perera
2 SCORES ARE LEVEL! Length delivery outside off, Perera drills it down to long off who fumbles and allows an extra run to be taken.
16.4 L Plunkett to T Perera
2 Tad short delivery around middle, pulled away towards left of deep mid wicket for a couple.
16.4 L Plunkett to T Perera
WD WIDE AGAIN! Bangs it short and angling way down leg, Perera ducks under it and lets it go.
16.3 L Plunkett to T Perera
0 Length delivery outside off, Perera gets hard on the ball and gets an inside edge towards the bowler, no run.
16.3 L Plunkett to T Perera
WD WIDE! Length delivery strays down the leg side, Perera misses the flick.
16.2 L Plunkett to T Perera
6 SIXXX!! Just 7 required now. Plunkett bowls it short and outside off, pace on, Perera stands tall and clubs it over deep mid wicket for a maximum.
16.1 L Plunkett to T Perera
0 Back of a length delivery on middle, Perera tries to clip it but gets an inside edge on the pads towards the bowler, no run.
OVER 16
Manipal Tigers
119/5
Asela Gunaratne
13(14)
Thisara Perera
22(16)
Yashpal Singh
0-9(2.0)
15.6 Y Singh to T Perera
1 Length delivery on off, Perera works it down the ground towards long on for a single to end the over.