India Maharajas defeated World Giants by six wickets. (Twitter/Legends League Cricket)India Maharajas vs World Giants, Legends League Highlights: Yusuf Pathan smashed an unbeaten fifty as India Maharajas defeated World Giants by six wickets in a special charity match on Friday. The game was played ahead of Legends League Cricket, beginning on Saturday.
Yusuf, who had slammed the second-fastest IPL fifty in 15 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad here in their triumphant 2014 campaign, showed his old fury in a 35-ball 50 not out to take them home with eight balls to spare.
Live Blog
Yusuf Pathan scores a half-century here. Brilliant knock!! Irfan Pathan pulls it this time and gets a six against Edwards. It's over now. India Maharajas win the match by six wickets.
Bresnan takes the wicket of Srivastava. He departs after playing a great knock for his team. Irfan Pathan hits a six here. What a shot!! IM 162/4 after 18 overs
Pathan starts the over with a huge six against Panesar. That's a great shot!! Srivastava gets his fifty now. This is great cricket by both the batters. IM 148/3 after 16 overs
Srivastava and Yusuf Pathan are taking this Maharaja innings closer to te target with this batting. 2 fours already in this over. The last ball also finds a boundary. IM 113/3 after 13 overs
11th over and Vettori has been hit with back to back fours by Srivastava. That's the end of the 11th over and Maharajas are steady. IM 91/3 after 11 overs.
After Srivastava ended Vetorri's last over with a 6, Pathan continued that streak with a four to Murali in the 10th over. IM 80/3 after 10 overs
Murali in to bowl his first over of the match and he has been crunched for a 4 by Yusuf Pathan in his 2nd delivery. Just 6 from this over though. IM 56/3 after 8 overs
Bresnan again as Kaif hits te ball hard but not handsome. Change of pace by the bowler and the ball falls to Vettori for an easy catch. That's the 3rd. IM 50/3 after 6.5 overs.
Great looking extra cover drive by Srivastava to start the last over of the powerplay. Nothing Perera could have done. Lovely shot by Kaif to fetch another boundary. Excellent stroke. IM 44/2 after 6 overs
5th over now and Patel lofts the first ball for a six!!! Huge shout for an LBW next and the finger goes up. Bresnan strikes!!! IM 34/2 after 4.2 overs
Sidebottom appeals for an LBW but not given. And that has been hit high by Srivastava. Can Vettori get this one? No he has put it down!!! Down the leg side now and Patel pulls for a four!!! IM 28/1 after 4 overs
Edwards in again to bowl the 3rd over. Ohhh. Edged and that's flown over to the boundary. Srivastava it is. Another wide in the over. These extras are already piling up. IM 20/1 after 3 overs
Sidebottom in to bowl the second over. Starts with a dot. Follows that up with 2 dots more as Patel swings and that goes high as he finally gets off the mark with a single. The over ends with a boundary. IM 14/1 after 2 overs
Here we go as Virender Sehwag and Parthiv Patel come to out bat for the Maharajas. Edwards in to bowl. 3 wides from this over already before Sehwag finds the boundary. Beautiful ball to follow which swings away from the batter. And gone!!! Sehwag hits and Taibu is near the boundary to snap him up. IM 7/1 after 0.5 overs
Last over now and that's a wicket to start as Kaluwitharana's brief stay ends. Tim Bresnan comes in and he also departs quickly. 2 wickets in this over. And another one. That's a 170/8 after 20 overs fife wicket haul by Pankaj. Vettori gone. WGS end at 170/8 after 20 overs
Sreesanth in to bowl the penultimate over and that's two fours from this one already. And another from the 5th ball as well as the last ball of the over. WG 170/5 after 19 overs.
Taibu is gone as Pankaj snares him. The over ends with a single. Good over. WGS 148/5 after 18 overs
Tough over for Dinda as he gets hit for 2 sixes!!! And it gets worse. Dinda is injured and he leaves the field. Kaif in to finish the over and he gets hit fore 6 more!! Perera on song but he's gone the next ball!!! Perera lost control of that ball and is caught out!!! WG 135/4 after 16 overs
Yusuf Pathan in to bowl the 15th over now and World Giants have been pegged back a bit after that blistering start. Perera with a four to help the run rate somewhat. WG 115/3 after 15 overs
Skipper gets the skipper as Kallis tries to hit a sweep and the ball goes from his pad and gloves and rattles his stump. Harbhajan will like that. WG 93/3 after 11 overs
Gone!!! Finally the Maharajas get rid of O Brien. Harbhajan Singh with the catch and Joginder Sharma with the wicket. The time out did not do O Brien much good as he departs for 52. WG 85/1 after 9 overs
Joginder Sharma in to bowl the 8th and O Brien punishes him with 2 fours. He is almost to his 50 now. And that's his 50 now. WG 79/1 after 8 overs
Pankaj to bowl the last over in the powerplay and Masakadza hits his second ball for 4 more. And yes!!! GONE!!! Great catch in the covers by Srivastava as Masakadza goes back. WG 50/1 after 5.3 overs
Masakadza joins the part as he sends back to back balls for fours. Kevin O Brien comes back on strike and he hits Sreesanth for the first six of the innings. The runs are leaking from everywhere. WG 46/0 after 5 overs
O Brien again and he welcomes Pankaj Singh into the attack with another 4!!! He is on song. Just 6 runs coming from that over though. WG 31/0 after 4 overs
Irfan Pathan in to bowl the 3rd and O Brien starts his over with a four as well!!! Great start by him. And again!!! O Brien is not letting anything slide tonight. That's gone high up!!! Is that a wicket? No!! Yusuf can't get there. WG 25/0 after 3 overs
Sreesanth in to bowl the second over. O Brien hits him for a four straightaway. Next 3 balls yields just 1 run. Inside edge and that's a four to end the over. WG 12/0 after 2 overs
Kevin O'Brien on strike and Irfan Pathan will start the first over. Hamilton Masakadza is at the non striker's end. 1 run from the first 3 balls. And 2 more runs from the ensuing two balls. WG 3/0 after 1 over
The national anthem is played and we are just moments away from the start of the match. Mark Waugh will ring the famous bell and we'll be underway soon.
It's toss time and here are the two captains. Harbhajan Singh has come for the toss and World Giants win it. They opt to bat.
World Giants (Playing XI): Hamilton Masakadza, Jacques Kallis(c), Thisara Perera, Daniel Vettori, Kevin O Brien, Denesh Ramdin(w), Tim Bresnan, Fidel Edwards, Muttiah Muralitharan, Monty Panesar, Tatenda Taibu
India Maharajas (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag, Tanmay Srivastava, Parthiv Patel(w), Mohammad Kaif, Manvinder Bisla, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh(c), Joginder Sharma, Pankaj Singh, S Sreesanth
Sehwag and ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle will be among 90 former cricketers who will be in action in the Legends League Cricket. Sehwag will be leading Gujarat Giants in the tournament opener against Gautam Gambhir’s India Capitals on Saturday.
World Giants Squad: Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lendl Simmons, Sanath Jayasuriya, Eoin Morgan(c), Denesh Ramdin(w), Jonty Rhodes, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Kevin O Brien, Asghar Afghan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nathan McCullum, Matt Prior
India Maharajas Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly(c), Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel(w), Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, S Badrinath, Yusuf Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Stuart Binny, Ajay Jadeja, Reetinder Sodhi, Naman Ojha
The iconic Eden Garden is all set to welcome the two teams. Who will come away with the victory tonight?
Before the Legends League kicks off the tournament proper on Saturday, Virender Sehwag-led India Maharajas will take on Jacques Kallis-led World Giants team in Eden Gardens on Friday. Tune in for live updates.