WCL 2024 | Rayudu and Yusuf special lead India to win World Championship of Legends title defeating Pakistan

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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India Champions defeated Pakistan Champions by five wickets to clinch the inaugural World Championship of Legends title. Anureet Singh’s three-fer restricted Pakistan to 156/6 whereas Ambati Rayudu’s half-century coupled with Yusuf Pathan’s quick 30 off 16 sealed the deal for India Champions.

‌Brief Scores: INDCH: 159/5  [Rayudu: 50, Gurkeerat: 34; Yamin: 2/29] beat PAKCH: 156/6  [Malik: 41, Akmal:24; Anureet: 3/43] by five wickets
Pakistan captain Younis Khan won the toss and chose to bat first at Edgbaston against India in the WCL summit clash. However, their decision backfired early on when star opener Sharjeel Khan fell in the second over to Anureet Singh. The top order struggled further as Kamran Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood departed within the first 10 overs with the score at 72/3. Furthermore, Younis Khan's dismissal in the 12th over added to Pakistan's woes. Despite the setbacks, Shoaib Malik displayed resilience, partnering with Misbah-ul-Haq to steadily build Pakistan's innings. They managed to reach 113/4 by the 16th over, with Misbah retiring hurt but Malik contributing a valuable 41 off 36 balls. After Malik and Misbah's departure, Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanveer provided a crucial late boost with their aggressive batting, as Tanvir smacked 18 runs off just eight deliveries. This late flourish propelled Pakistan to a competitive total of 156/6 in their allotted 20 overs


In reply, the Men in Blue got off to a flying start as Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa raced to 24/0 in two overs. However, Pakistan's speedster Aamer Yamin disrupted the Indian top order dismissing Uthappa and Suresh Raina in the third over. Despite this setback, Gurkeerat Singh and Rayudu stabilized the innings, taking the score to 55/2 by the end of the powerplay. Rayudu was in fine form, scoring 43 off 25 balls, with the scoreboard reading 89/2 at the halfway mark. He then reached a 29-ball fifty, guiding India towards victory. Gurkeerat also shifted gears and kept the runs flowing until his departure in the 13th over, having scored 34 off 33 balls. The situation became tense as Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan struggled in the 13th and 14th overs leaving the scorecard at 122/4 after 15 overs. Pathan then accelerated scoring 13 runs in the 16th over. With four overs remaining, India needed 22 runs. Despite Sohail Tanvir's tight 19th over, which conceded only six runs, India lost Pathan's crucial wicket. Needing just two runs off the final over, the game shifted towards India. Ultimately, Yuvraj Singh secured the victory by scoring the winning runs on the first ball of the last over, as India Champions clinched the World Championship of Legends title by five wickets.

Finished in style

Steps up

Gone

Palying well

Smashed

Well played

Did it well

Disciplined

Better then them

Destroyed

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