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India Capitals have been crowned the champions of the Legends League Cricket (LLC). Notably, it was being held in India for the first time.
On Wednesday the final was played at Sawai Man Singh Stadium. However, the Capitals beat Bhilwara Kings by 104 runs to lift the trophy. Further, the captain Gautam Gambhir made an outstanding recovery after staggering early to post 211/7 in 20 overs. The Kings ground under the pressure of the tall target and were all out for just 107 in 18.2 overs.
Meanwhile, Ross Taylor (82 off 41 balls) and Mitchell Johnson (62 off 35 balls) were the architects of the Capitals’ innings, sharing a 126-run stand for the fifth wicket, the Kings did not manage to get any meaningful partnership from their batters.
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The Kings’ openers, Morne van Wyk (5) and William Porterfield (12) were out inside the first four overs. A lot depended on Yusuf Pathan (6). However, he did not last long. Shane Watson (27) was awful to be run out, while Jesal Karia (22) showed a pledge but could not carry on for long.
For the Capitals, three bowlers – Pawan Suyal (2/27), Pankaj Singh (2/14), and Pravin Tambe (2/19) – took two wickets each. It was a detailed team effort that brought victory to the Capitals. Irfan’s gambit to start with spin from both ends paid dividends as the Capitals found themselves four wickets down by the fifth over.
Monty Panesar and Rahul Sharma cast their spin web to decrease the Capitals to 21/4. But then started up the counterattack. Taylor and Johnson caught the Kings’ bowlers by the scruff of their necks and thrashed them to all parts of the ground.
The ninth over of the match was the turning point of the Capitals’ innings. Former New Zealand captain Taylor crushed Yusuf’s spin to take 30 runs from the over. He hit four sixes and a four in that over.
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