India Capitals, the GMR group owned franchisee in the Legends League Cricket, went down to Urbanrisers Hyderabad in a final over thriller in the fifth match of the Legends League Cricket T20, played at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi. Chasing 190, Capitals needed eleven runs from the final over with Ashley Nurse and Rusty Theron in the crease. Urbanrisers’ medium pacer, Peter Trego restricted both the batters as they could only manage to score seven off the final over. However, Kevin Pietersen’s 77 from 48 balls with the help of 6 massive hits over the fence stole the show for India Capitals.
After winning the toss, defending champions India Capitals put Urbanrisers Hyderabad to bat. The fast-bowling pair of Rusty Theron and Isuru Udana picked up on their form from the last match and sent the opening pair of Martin Guptill and Dwayne Smith back to the pavilion within three overs with the score reading 10/2. Gurkeerat Mann was joined by skipper Suresh Raina as both batters created an impressive 92-run partnership for the third wicket. For the Urbanrisers, Gurkeerat was the top scorer, who with the help of 3 sixes and 9 boundaries scored 89 runs for 54 balls, while Raina scored 46 runs of 27 balls. Peter Trego accelerated the scoring in the death with his quick-fire 36 of 20 balls. Isuru Udana was the pick of the bowlers for India Capitals with figures of 2/28 as Urbanrisers finished their innings on 189/5.
In reply, Capitals skipper, Gautam Gambhir was trapped LBW in the very first ball of Christopher Mpofu. They were held back again in the next over when Peter Trego castled Hashim Amla’s wicket. Capitals were reduced to 43/4 inside the powerplay. Kevin Pietersen was joined by Ricardo Powell and both batters steadied the inning with a 5th wicket partnership of 72 runs. Pietersen completed his half-century but was dismissed in the 18th over with a match evenly poised. With 31 required off the final two overs, Ashley Nurse scored 20 runs off the penultimate over by Mpofu but couldn’t finish the game in the final over. Nurse remained unbeaten on 41 runs of 25 balls. Mpofu was the pick of the bowlers for Urbanrisers with 2/34.
India Capitals will now meet Southern Superstars in their next clash on 25th November 2023. The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports Network from 06:30 pm IST onwards. The match can also be streamed LIVE on Disney+ Hotstar and FanCode.
Brief Scores:
Urbanrisers Hyderabad 189-5 in 20 Overs (Gurkeerat Singh Mann 89(54), Suresh Raina 46(27), Peter Trego 36*(20) Isuru Udana 2-28, KP Appanna 1-26) beat India Capitals 186-6 in 20 overs (Kevin Pieterson 79(48), Ashley Nurse 41*(25) Ricardo Powell 26(24) Chris Mpofu 2-34)
Man of the Match – Gurkeerat Singh Mann
