India Capitals claimed their first victory of Legends League Cricket 2022 with a 78-run win over Bhilwara Kings at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, September 21.
Solomon Mire’s blitzkrieg innings of 82 runs in 38 balls set the tone for the Capitals to record a match-winning score of 198/5. Yusuf Pathan was the standout bowler for the Kings with his impressive spell of 3/28, but his team’s batters could only score 120 in 19.2 overs.
Bhilwara Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first. India Capitals captain Gautam Gambhir came in for Jacques Kallis, while Farveez Maharoof and Pravin Tambe earned a place in the playing XI at the expense of Suhail Sharma and Praveen Gupta.
The Kings, meanwhile, made a solitary change to their playing XI from the previous LCCT20 game, with Matt Prior replacing William Porterfield.
Gautam Gambhir was the first to depart, as he played a shot off Tino Best straight into the hands of Matt Prior at short cover. Gambhir hit 12 runs in nine balls.
Hamilton Masakadza came into bat at number three and made the most of the fifth over, hammering 20 runs off Bhilwara Kings’ Best. His efforts helped the India Capitals reach 50 in 4.6 overs.
Opener Solomon Mire and Masakadza went on a hitting spree as they guided India Capitals past 100 in 8.4 overs, while Mire would complete his half-century in 9.4 overs. The Zimbabwean took just 25 balls to reach his fifty.
Yusuf Pathan broke the 105-run partnership between Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza as he dismissed the latter for LBW. Masakadza fell short of a half-century as he walked back with 48 runs off 30 balls.
Yusuf would strike again as he combined with his brother Irfan Pathan to grab the crucial wicket of Solomon Mire. The older Pathan’s delivery took an edge of Mire’s bat and skied up straight in the safe hands of Irfan. Solomon Mire walked back, having played a match-defining knock of 82 runs in just 38 balls.
While Ashley Nurse (10) and Liam Plunkett (1) departed in overs 16.4 and 17.3, Denesh Ramdin (20) and Farveez Maharoof (8) helped India Capitals end their first innings at 198/5.
Pankaj Singh made the first breakthrough for India Capitals as he bowled Nick Compton out for one run.
Naman Ojha (20 runs off 13 balls) was Pankaj’s second scalp of the night as Pawan Suyal caught Ojha’s shot.
A confident cameo from Rajesh Bishnoi (15 off 10 balls) ended in the seventh over, with Liam Plunkett taking the wicket.
Matt Prior (8) and Yusuf Pathan (14) were dismissed in the eighth and ninth overs, thus putting Bhilwara Kings on course for a defeat.
While Irfan Pathan (17) and Tanmay Srivastava (27 not out) tried to revive the Bhilwara Kings’ innings, the dismissals of Tim Bresnan (4), Mayank Tehlan (2), and Tino Best (0) signalled the end of the road for the Kings.
Super-sub Rajat Bhatia put the finishing touches to a dominant 78-run win as he bowled out Fidel Edwards in the final over of the match.
Solomon Mire was awarded the Legend of the Match award for his 38-ball 82.
The teams will reconvene again in match six of Legends League Cricket 2022 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, September 24.
