Match Center

Right then, that is all we have from the first game of this second season of the Road Safety T20 World Series. There will be a double dose of action on the Super Sunday, 11th of September. Firstly, Bangladesh Legends will take on West Indies Legends. That game will start on 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT). Then, we will see Australia Legends going up against Sri Lanka Legends and that game will start at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT). Our coverage for both the games will begin in advance. So do join us for the same. Till then, it's goodbye and cheers!

Stuart Binny is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his fantastic knock with the bat. He says that everyone was very excited to he be here and he started training three weeks back and he is glad that it came off in this game. Mentions that the coaching stint has helped him and he says that he is happy to be back with the boys and is enjoying himself. Tells that he was getting tired in the end with the bat and then Yusuf Pathan took over from there.

Sachin Tendulkar, the skipper of India Legends says that he couldn’t have asked for more and they played quite well. Tells that they need to address some areas with the ball but with the bat they were brillant. Applauds Raina, Stuart Binny and Yusuf for their knocks and says that the move to send Stuart up the order was because he wanted him to stay there. Mentions that Binny played good cricketing shots and that was great to see. Adds that he just told his players to give their full effort when they are on the field and he says that people and everyone expects a lot from them and they need to appreciate that. Says that he enjoyed playing at Kanpur and says that the response from the crowd was fantastic.

Jonty Rhodes, the skipper of South Africa Legends says that it is always good to get the first one on the board and applauds Indian players for the way they played. Tells that the margin of error was almost non-existent and it was a tough game against India. Tells that they need to make sure that they have 11 fit players for the next game and they need to learn from this game.

Time for the Presentation...

Irfan Pathan is down for a quick chat. He says that it was fantastic to play alongside the master and play for India. Tells that they were slightly under pressure with the bat and the innings from Binny and Yusuf Pathan took the game away from South Africa. Mentions that he is surprised by the swing he got in this match and happily says that he will take that.

India Legends, on the other hand, played a perfect game here. With the bat, it was Stuart Binny who was the star and Yusuf Pathan also displayed his vintage finishing skills to take India to a huge score at the end of the first half of this game. The bowlers then joined the party and the Indian spinners were absolutely brilliant and broke the backbone of the South African batting line-up. Rahul Sharma picked up three wickets while Pragyan Ojha got two and Yuvraj Singh also managed to get one wicket under his kitty. Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel then finished things off in the death and overall it was a complete performance from the Indian Legends team.

South Africa Legends, honestly never looked like chasing this total. They got off to a decent start with openers putting up a partnership of 43 runs but they were never going at the rate they needed to go to chase the target down. However, once the first wicket fell, thing started going further downhill for them as they started losing wickets at regular intervals. The middle order had no answers to the questions asked by Indian spinners and it was only the South Africa Legends skipper, Jonty Rhodes who displayed some fight and stayed unbeaten with 38 runs off 27 balls. Overall, a poor batting effort but they will be more disappointed with the way they bowled at the death and that took the game completely away from them going into the second half. They need to come out with better execution in the next game and especially have to control the extras they give away with the ball, if they want to win matches in this tournament.

So, a comfortable win for India Legends! They posted a huge total on the board with the bat and South Africa Legends were always behind the 8-ball after that. They needed an explosive start with the bat but that was not the case and they have fallen short by a huge margin in the end.

So couple of runs to end the game! This is a fullish delivery, outside off. Jonty Rhodes drives it to deep extra-cover and comes back for the second run. India Legends win by 61 runs!

FOUR! Another boundary! Back of a length, on off. Jonty Rhodes drills it down the ground past mid off for a boundary.

Dropped! On a length and around off. Jonty Rhodes tries to cut it but mistimes it. The ball loops up in the air towards mid off. Binny there dives forward to catch it but fails to grab it.

FOUR LEG BYES! Short and around leg. Jonty Rhodes tries to pull it. He misses and the ball hits his body and rolls towards the fine leg fence.

On a length, on off. Jonty Rhodes pushes it to mid off.

FOUR! Jonty Rhodes continues to find boundaries! A slower length delivery, around off. Jonty Rhodes reverse-sweeps it and hits it over short third man for a boundary.

OUT! BOWLED! Second wicket for Munaf Patel and Makhaya Ntini departs now! This is a slower fullish delivery on leg. Makhaya Ntini dances down the track and tries to heave it towards the leg side. However, he misses and the ball goes onto it the leg stump. Can India bowl out South Africa Legends here? Garnett Kruger is the last batter in.

On a length, on middle. Makhaya Ntini pushes it right of the bowler.