World Of Sports

ICL India defeat ICL World by 10runs

ICL India wins ICL 20s World Series to pocket Rs 1.25 crore

ICL World picks up humongous 75lakhs as runner up

ICL Pakistani takes 3rd position to claim an impressive 50 lakhs

The finals of ICL 20s World Series featured the big match between ICL India & ICL World, battling it out for top honors, at the Lal Bahadur Stadium Hyderabad. The big question for cricket fans was if the magnificent Indian side continues its stupendous run & conquers the final frontier in form of the ICL 20s World Series championship. In the end, it was the exuberance of youth and passion of playing for their country that saw the magnificent ICL Indian team conquer their formidable ICL World opponents, in a high quality cricket spectacle by 10 runs. G. Vignesh was declared Man of the Man. Ibrahim Khaleel was declared Man of the Series for his brilliant performance as wicket-keeper batsman through out the ICL 20s World Series.

R. Sathish won the toss and elected to bat. The Indians opened with their tested combination of Vignesh & Khaleel. The opening bowlers for the world side came out firing all cylinders and at the end of the first two overs, the scorecard read only one solitary run for no loss. The young openers soon got into the groove & at the end of the 5th over, the Indians were back on track at 27 for no loss. They soon started taking their chances and the partnership was worth 45 runs at the end of the 7th over. A fine lofted shot from Khaleel to the long off fence brought about the Indian 50 in the 8th over.

Vignesh was making most of a dropped chance in the 2nd over, scoring boundaries all across the park, much to the delight of a packed LBS stadium. The explosive opening partnership worth 76 was finally broken by Elliott in the 10th over, getting the wicket of Khaleel for a well made 34. At the half way mark of their innings the ICL-India side was well placed at 78/1. The 100 of the Indian innings came up with a big six by Vignesh in the 13th over, which also brought about his explosive fifty off only 36 balls, including 5 fours & 3 sixes. Just when the Indians were looking to walk away with the match, two quick wickets of Abbas Ali & TP Singh, brought the World side back into the game at 105/3 in the 14th over. Chandana got the big wicket of Vignesh trapping him leg before wicket for a well made 57. With 5 overs to go, the Indians were set for the final onslaught at 112/4.

However, the quick wickets of Binny & captain Sathish, had the Indians in a bit of a bother at 126/6 in the 18th over, with only one genuine batsman in Jhunjhunwala. The fall of regular wickets at regular intervals did not allow the Indians to take full advantage of the explosive start & folded their innings at 148/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the ICL World side was off to a confident start placed at 22 for no loss at the end of the 3rd over. Vignesh however, had other plans and got the first breakthrough sending back the dangerous Elliott with the first ball of the 4th over. The great Damien Martyn was looking in ominous touch taking the ICL World score to 42/1 in the 5th over. Sathish turned to his main strike force of Kumaran & Murtaza, to break the dangerously evolving partnership between Martyn & Vincent.

At the halfway mark the World side was right on target at 74/1, needing another 75 runs off 60 balls. Just when the partnership was taking dangerous proportions the wily Syed struck foxing Vincent in the 11th over. The Indians were turning in some tight overs in the crucial 9th -13th over, in turn applying pressure through an escalating required run-rate which was creeping at around 10 runs per over in the 13th over. It was a wonderful spell from Syed Mohammed who bowled his 4 overs for only 10 runs. It was turning out to be a fascinating contest between bat & ball.

With 5 overs to go the World side was placed at 96/2 needing 53 runs off 30 balls, setting up an interesting finish & the great Martyn holding the key. The Indians came up with some exhilarating fielding & that resulted in the big wickets of Cairns & Martyn in form of run-outs. Martyn's wicket was a big blow as he had batted beautifully for his classy 60. With 2 overs to go, the ICL-World side needed 35 runs off 12 balls. The Indians kept their cool & some brilliant bowling in the end saw them come out tops by 10 runs.

Brief Scores: ICL India 148/8 (Vignesh 57, Khaleel 34, Chandana 2/31 Hall2/39) win by 10 runs ICL World138/5 (Martyn 60, Vincent 28, Vignesh 2/28, Syed 1/12)