So folks, that's it from the live coverage of today's third game between the Maratha Arabians and the Punjabi Legends. The bowling might of the Legends was just too good for the Arabians on the day.
It is another triple header tomorrow with the Pakhtoons beginning the proceedings against the Rajputs at 5 pm IST. Do join us for the live coverage. Until then, see ya !
Previously, some excellent cameos from the lower order of the Legends had powered them to a strong score of 121 runs. They were struggling at one point of time with the score at 56/3 after 6 overs but some big hits at the end from the likes of Jordan and Akmal provided a great finish to their innings.
So thats it folks ! We have an upset of sorts on our hands as the strong line up of Maratha Arabians are beaten by Punjabi Legends. Chasing a stiff target of 122 runs, Arabians began strongly as the openers hammered 32 runs from the first two overs. However, the match was turned on its head by a brilliant double wicket over from the Afghani left arm china-man Zahir Khan who dismissed the dangerous looking Alex Hales and James Vince in the fourth over of the chase. It was all downhill for the Arabians from there on as they kept on losing wickets regularly. No other batsman posed any challenge to the Punjabi Legends. Chris Jordan was another star with the ball for the Legends as he picked up 4 wickets from just 8 balls !
Mohammad Sami is brought back into the attack and gets a wicket of his first ball of the over as Faulkner picks out the cover fielder of a high full toss.
Mitchell McClenaghan comes on to bowl the sixth over and picks up a wicket on his second ball as captain Dwayne Bravo is caught at third man by Zahir Khan.
Rashid Khan, the new man at the crease, tries to cut away his first ball over the point boundary but can only present the simplest of catches to Anwar Ali at deep point.
Chris Jordan comes on to bowl the fifth over but a mindless shot from Kamran Akmal sees him walking back to the hut as Ronchi takes a skier at mid-off.
Plunkett sticks to his back of the length stuff and is hooked away for a gigantic six by the Afghan. Some poor fielding by Shaiman Anwar at deep mid-wicket gives another four to the Arabians. The last ball is driven past cover for the third boundary of the over. An expensive one from the experienced Plunkett. 16 runs came from it
The Legends began their innings on a bad note and were struggling at 56/3 after 6 overs. However, some fine hitting by Umar Akmal accompanied by some huge hits at the death by their fast bowlers ensured that the Legends have more than a decent chance of pulling this one off. For the Arabians, Richard Gleeson was the star with the ball as he picked up 3 wickets for just 18 runs from his two overs.
A massive 65 runs came from the last 4 overs ! Would this prove to be the difference at the end ? We ll get to know soon.
A dreadful over from Bravo ! 21 runs came from the last over. A length delivery and a juicy full toss is deposited over the ropes by Plunkett and Jordan respectively. An excellent finish to the innings power the Legends to a very competitive score of 121 runs.
Anwar Ali replaces Umar Akmal in the middle and gets going straight away by launching Bravo for a six over long off but is castled off the very next ball by Bravo.
Rashid shows everyone why he is one of the best in the world as he gives away just 8 runs from the over, which also included a missed stumping of Akmal.
Punjabi Legends 83/4 after 8 overs
The impressive Richard Gleeson to bowl the penultimate over.
The comeback is well and truly on ! After a 13 run over from Bravo, the Legends pair smashes three fours and a six from the next over. However, Anwar holes out to Rashid at deep mid-wicket.
Bravo is mixing his pace nicely but is drilled down the ground for a four by Anwar. Anwar is not done here and smashes the last ball of the over for a beautiful six down the ground. Would this over provide the much needed momentum to the Legends innings?
Moores tries to break the shackles and launches Faulkner for a massive six over long off. The next ball is then cut away to the point boundary for a four. A good over for the Legends as 12 runs came from it.
