That's all we have from this cracking encounter tonight as myself (Rishab) and my colleague, Soorya take your leave. Have a great night folks!
Kevin Pietersen (Winning Captain/ MOM, England Legends) : It's always nice to bat in India. It's been an absolute pleasure and these wickets are spectacular. The seamers are getting it to go through, occasionally it bounces and it's just pure. I think the fans were rewarded today with two pretty good teams and some good cricket throughout.
(On the crowds) It was just brilliant. The noise was going and it certainly got the juices flowing when Gony and Irfan were whacking it there. I told Chris Tremlett that he was bowling that over and i also said Sidebottom to stand up and bowl. The entertainment was there for everybody.
(On a team winning for the first time batting first in this edition) Those wickets are so good, absolutely brilliant. Ball comes onto the bat, sins a little bit but it doesn't grip as much so you can play your shots. I just think the groundsmen are doing such a great job.
Sachin Tendulkar (Losing Captain, India Legends) : Superb! I thought it was incredible hitting towards the end. The first six overs were critical for us and we lost far too many wickets.
(On Irfan Pathan) I remember even last year when we played in March against Sri Lanka, Irfan played a blinder and he repeated that today. We fell short by few runs but it was a joy to watch.
KP (Kevin Pietersen) the way he batted today never felt like he had stopped playing. Right from ball one he was very much at touch and batted beautifully. He set the tone for them and continued batting till the thirteenth over or so.
In this format you can plan and after that you got yo leave it to the bowler. You have to allow that natural instincts to take over and so is the case with a batter. However much you plan but in this format sometimes things don't work.
Viru (Virender Sehwag) has been scoring runs for us and we've had decent partnerships. We need to have that partnerships but it's nice to have our lower end of the batting line-up also contribute. They all can hit a long ball and it was nice to see them bat and take the game till the end.
Well, we have witnessed absolute nail-biter tonight in this contest. Did it seem like the legends were playing this game? That's a yes and a no as well! What high level drama this has been and from one point, where it looked like this game was completely over for India, it's been a miraculous effort from Irfan Pathan and Manpreet Gony to pull it back in style! Almost pulled off an incredible chase there. India Legends may not have won the game in the end, but the way it's ended, the fans are going to remember this game for quite some time to come! 19 to get off the final over was never going to be easy and Ryan Sidebottom getting the job done for England Legends who would have surely felt the heat with what transpired before that final over!
India Legends needed to start well at the top chasing a huge score which they failed to do with the big guns going back to the hut early courtesy some brilliant bowling from Matthew Hoggard and Monty Panesar at the top! Panesar in particular with three big wickets pushing India on the backfoot right-away. India Legends kept losing wickets and at the half-way stage, it never looked like India were in this chase whatsoever!
But then the Irfan Pathan and Manpreet Gony show with some towering sixes being hit which we will certainly cherish despite the result! Irfan Pathan with an all-round performance scoring a brilliant unbeaten 61, that went in vain in the end but the fight! Simply commendable and with Gony ripping the bowlers apart for those humungous sixes and that brought the crowd to life as we believed that this game was going India's way.
As we did say, it's a game of nerves and England holding them in the end to survive the whacking from Irfan and Gony. In the end, a wonderful game of cricket all-round that and these kind of games are the one's we'd certainly love to have more and more often! Tremendous action and England moving up the table to the third spot with that win. India, losing their first game of the series will still remain at the top of the table for a while courtesy their superior net-run-rate!
Nerves! It's been a game of absolute nerves this and England Legends holding them in the end. An unbeaten 63 run stand of just 26 deliveries getting India Legends back in the game but England Legends surviving the scare to win this game by 6 runs in the end. A miraculous effort going in vain but what an encounter this has been! So close and yet so far for India, that's the margin of this format but this has been an absolute cracker of a game without doubt!
19.6 Ryan Sidebottom to Manpreet Gony, slogs this length ball from outside off towards deep mid-wicket! RJ lets out a roar! He's done it off the final two deliveries! Stunned silence in the crowd but what a game we've had! We spoke about wanting to see a thriller and both these teams have delivered exactly that! Well played to both the teams but it is England Legends who overcome India Legends by a mere 6 runs here in Raipur!
19.5 Ryan Sidebottom to Manpreet Gony, swing and a miss! OOH! This was on a good length shaping away a touch outside off, Gony looked to slog across the line but failed to connect! Another legal delivery and England are home!
Third man, fine-leg up now! Deep extra square leg as the boundary rider. Long on Long off behind as well!
19.4 Ryan Sidebottom to Irfan Pathan, well bowled! Low full toss on off-stump, attempted yorker, slogged uppishly towards long on and a single is all they can get
19.3 Ryan Sidebottom to Irfan Pathan, SIX! RJ dishes out a full toss on leg-stump and Pathan swats it around the corner over the backward square leg fence! 9 off 3! No more nails left!
19.2 Ryan Sidebottom to Irfan Pathan, LANDS SAFE! Was it above waist height though? A high full toss outside off and Irfan slogs across the line, no control over the shot and the ball lands safe in the fine leg region. Irfan expecting a no ball but isn't given. Touch and go on the replay!
19.1 Ryan Sidebottom to Irfan Pathan, yorker at the stumps, Pathan gets under it and whips it around the corner behind square! The fielder slides in to keep it down to two
Ryan Sidebottom with the final over!
Is this charge from the India Legends just a bit too late? What a late surge this has been and this duo of Gony and Pathan are turning this game on! Fighting till the end here and this is brilliant batting towards the end. Tension soaring in either dugouts now as this game is getting all the more exciting. Manpreet Gony is absolutely charged up at the moment and what a splendid cameo this has been! Mighty sixes and what power hitting this has been! Smoking them away into the night sky and this is unbelievable! Absolutely merciless hitting. A nail biting cracker this has been and what high level drama!
18.6 Chris Tremlett to Manpreet Gony, full on middle and leg, Gony clears his front leg looking to slog over the leg-side again but doesn't connect! India need 19 runs off the final over to pull off a Houdini!
18.5 Chris Tremlett to Manpreet Gony, SIX! THAT'S THE BIGGEST OF THE NIGHT! GONY IS PLAYING AN ABSOLUTE SCREAMER OF AN INNINGS! Banged into the surface and Gony smothers it over mid-wicket into the top tier! 103 METRES! WOAH! This is belligerent hitting from Gony! Murdering the cricket ball!
18.4 Chris Tremlett to Manpreet Gony, SIX! There is life in this game! KP is concerned! For the first time this innings! Fired into the leg-stump and Gony yet again gives the charge to heave it over the mid-wicket ropes! Just cleared it but that is good enough!
18.3 Chris Tremlett to Manpreet Gony, swing and a miss! Clears his front leg to heave it over the leg-side, but doesn't connect as the ball goes past the leg-stump through to the keeper
Total Score
Bowlers
Fall of Wickets
