Warne's Warriors completes series whitewash over Sachin's Blasters
Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting put in scintillating knocks to seal a 3-0 series win for Warne's Warriors in the third and final match of the Cricket All-Stars Series at Los Angeles on Sunday. The duo chased down Sachin's Blasters' mammoth total of 219 with four wickets remaining.
Brief scores: Sachin's Blasters 219/5 in 20 overs (Sachin 56 (27), Sourav 50 (37); Vettori 3/33, Symonds 1/33); Warne's Warriors 224/6 in 20 overs (Kallis 47 (23), Ponting 43 (25); Swann 2/21, Hooper 1/37)
Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag provided a quick start in the first innings as they put on 55 runs for the first wicket in just 3.5 overs. Sehwag, who retired recently from International cricket, was at his nonchalant best as he hummed Bollywood songs while hitting the likes of Allan Donald and Courtney Walsh.
At the other end, Sachin turned back the clock and hit six sixes to score 56 runs in just 27 balls. After the opening pair was dismissed, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and former West Indies captain Carl Hooper provided Sachin's Blasters with the momentum in the middle of the innings. Dada dominated the spinners, like he did in his heyday, and hit Shane Warne for a massive six, before Daniel Vettori dismissed him.
The Blasters posted a massive total of 219 and looked set for their first win of the series when Michael Vaughan edged an innocuous loopy ball from Curtly Ambrose onto his stumps in the opening ball of Warriors' innings.
The Australian duo of Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds performed the rescue act with a 50-run stand for the second wicket, before both were dismissed in quick succession. Graeme Swann, who dismissed Symonds, showed his class with the ball as he completed his spell of four overs with stunning figures of 2/21 and an economy rate of 5.25- in a game where 443 runs were scored.
When Carl Hooper dismissed Jonty Rhodes in the 14th over, Warne's Warriors were tottering at 129/5, it looked all but over. Kallis and Ponting, however, had other plans and went into destruction mode very soon. The duo made 88 runs in just six overs to take the game away from Sachin's Blasters.
In a fitting end to this All-Stars Series, Shane Warne scored the winning runs with a six off Sehwag, in the fifth ball of the 20th over.