Billy Bowden (New Zealand), Simon Taufel (Australia)
Toss
Sri Lanka Masters elected to bowl
OVS
Bowler :
No summary available yet!
1wd261264
Over 17
Runs: 22
4W6211
Over 18
Runs: 14
11wd464W1
Over 19
Runs: 17
1b1lbW1W1
Over 20
Runs: 4
All Overs
Player of the Match
Stuart Binny
68(31)
0/11
Player of the Series
Lucky Winner
Analysis
Weather Update
Mumbai,India
Updated: 22 Feb 23:30
27.7°CSmoke
0%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
0.5 kmph
Wind
Commentary
COMMENTARY NOT AVAILABLE
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That brings us to the end of our coverage from this encounter. A cliffhanger to open the inaugural edition of IML. Till the next time, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Keshav Singh Chundawat.
Sachin Tendulkar (India Masters captain): Fabulous feeling. It's always a great feeling coming out to the field. This has been a great Stadium. The atmoshephre was electric. A big thankyou to everyone. To support cricket above all was great. When you end up winning, the points are in your bag. They stitched some important partnerships but our bowlers hit back at the right time. Mithun bowled a fantastic final over, Irfan bowled really well in the middle overs. Binny batted really well and then Yusuf played a blinder. Still strong enough to hold my legs. When the ball goes up and the crowd is large. My conversation with Rayudu was that I knew you would be somewhere around.
Stuart Binny is the player of the match. Let's hear from him: We were waiting for a long time for this tournament to come around again and we practised hard. What a first game to have. I normally don't bat at number 4. Paaji (Sachin) asked me to be prepared to bat just in case we lose two wickets upfront. He also said that look to normal cricket, just don't go out and hit. I am so used to going out and hitting in the last few overs. You have a lot more time in T20 cricket than you think you have so just took a little bit of time and once you are set you can go from there. He (Sachin) said that's the way you play in the powerplay as well; not too sure how hard to go in the powerplay. Once you get settled, the wicket is so good, you can really capitalise from there. It's nice to be around legends and even the dressing room talk right now is very positive.
It turned out to be a nail-biting thriller and the India Masters managed to hold their nerves and eke out by 4 runs. The match was dominated by the India Masters for a significant period of time but blistering knocks from Jeevan Mendis and Isuru Udana towards the end brought Sri Lanka Masters within touching distance of the victory target.
Dhawal Kulkarni provided the initial breakthrough as Upul Tharanga was dismissed in the second over. Captain Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne kept them in the hunt with a brilliant partnership before Yuvraj Singh took a stunning catch at long on to send back Thirimanne.
Asela Gunaratne then shared a good stand with Sangakkara keeping Sri Lanka in the hunt. Irfan Pathan took two crucial wickets off consecutive deliveries but Jeevan Mendis brought them back with a 17 ball 42. Udana then smashed a 7 ball 23 to bring them within touching distance of the target. Mithun then bowled a brilliant final over to hand India Masters a memorable win.
Kumar Sangakara (Sri Lanka Masters captain): We were right there in with a chance but I thought if we would have saved a few runs here and there, bowled a bit smartly, we would have managed to get over the line probably. Amazing batting from the Indian side, they held their nerve in the end. But I thought the batters from my side did an excellent job to keep us in the game. We should have actually in the hindsight looking at the dew and where we were at one stage, we were close to that but a great game. It took me a while to get going to get the hang of the pace and this pitch. This pitch was really good and I tried to hold my shape at the back end but tried to hit a few more sixes. But yeah, pretty happy with the day out there. It's one thing to come here and play and another to make sure that the cricket is of a high level and a great curtain raiser for the tournament. It was all about playing good cricket, playing to win and making sure that it is very competitive. Both sides put on a great show.
The India Masters have pulled off a win out of nowhere to be honest. 10 runs were required off 8 deliveries and Sri Lanka Masters squandered the match from there. It was a superb final over from Abhimanyu Mithun which got India Masters over the line.
20
overs
218/9score
1b
1lb
W
1
W
1
runs
Nuwan Pradeep*
1(1)
Suranga Lakmal
1(1)
Abhimanyu Mithun
2/41
19.6 Abhimanyu Mithun to Nuwan Pradeep, yorker just outside the off-stump, digs it with some difficulty to covers and takes a single. India Masters win the thriller by 4 runs.
Nuwan Pradeep, RHB comes out to the crease.
19.5 Abhimanyu Mithun to Asela Gunaratne, WICKET! back of a length outside the off-stump, Gunaratne hits it with power but fails to time and it balloons to the fielder at mid-off and it's caught successfully. 6 runs needed off the final delivery.
19.4 Abhimanyu Mithun to Suranga Lakmal, full and just outside the off-stump, it hits the pads and deflects to short-third which is enough for a leg-bye. Mithun appeals but umpire isn't convinced. Sachin Tendulkar signals for a DRS. The ball takes the inside-edge and the review is lost
Suranga Lakmal, RHB comes out to the crease.
That's a stunning delivery from Abhimanyu Mithun and India Masters are back in the game. 7 required off 3 deliveries with 2 wickets in hand.
19.3 Abhimanyu Mithun to Seekkuge Prasanna, INTO THE ROOTS!! Yorker on the leg-stump, the batter misses and the ball cracks into the sticks. It's going down to the wire.
19.2 Abhimanyu Mithun to Asela Gunaratne, full toss on the pads, the line was poor there and the ball brushes too short fine-leg. That's a leg bye
19.1 Abhimanyu Mithun to Seekkuge Prasanna, slow good length ball outside the off-stump and they rush for a bye.
19
overs
214/7score
1
1wd
4
6
4
W
1
runs
Seekkuge Prasanna*
1(1)
Asela Gunaratne
37(23)
Vinay Kumar
2/53
18.6 Vinay Kumar to Seekkuge Prasanna, yorker outside the off-stump, smacks it to deep mid-wicket. And 9 runs needed off 6 balls.
Seekkuge Prasanna, RHB comes out to the crease.
18.5 Vinay Kumar to Isuru Udana, TIMBER!! back of a hand slower on the good length around the off-stump, Udana gets on a knee yet again and swings his bat but he did a bit soon and the ball crashed into the WICKETS.
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India Masters
Nuwan Pradeep
*
Abhimanyu Mithun
Video
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