Warne finished with figures of 3-20 off his four overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Shane Warne took three wickets and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting smashed an unbeaten 48 to lead Warne’s Warriors to a comfortable six-wicket win over Sachin’s Blasters in the first Twenty20 match in New York.
Warne and Ponting were well supported by ex-Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who hammered 41.
Meanwhile, Sachin’s Blasters opener Virender Sehwag, who recently retired from international cricket, deserves a lot of credit for his valiant innings of 55.
Warne would have been brooding over his decision to bowl first early on as Sehwag and Sachin’s Blasters skipper Sachin Tendulkar amassed an 85-run partnership, during which Sehwag brought up his half-century, before Tendulkar was brilliantly caught by Jacques Kallis at mid-off off the bowling of Warne for 26.
Sehwag did not last much longer as he was clean bowled by Daniel Vettori for 55 off just 22 balls, which included three boundaries and six sixes.
Sehwag (left) walloped an entertaining 55
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Following Sehwag’s dismissal, Sachin’s Blasters began to collapse as they went from 85/2 in the ninth over to being reduced to 140/8 off their 20 overs.
Warne and Andrew Symonds picked up three wickets apiece, while Vettori and Allan Donald chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 141 to win, Warne’s Warriors got off to a poor start as Matthew Hayden and Jacques Kallis were dismissed in quick succession for four and 13 respectively.
However, Ponting and Sangakkara steered the innings back in the right direction with an 80-run stand before Sangakkara was caught by Mahela Jayawardene off the bowling of Shoaib Akhtar for 41.
Despite losing Symonds the very next over, Ponting and Jonty Rhodes mopped up the remaining runs to lead Warne’s Warriors to victory with 16 balls to spare.
Ponting finished on 48 off 38 balls, which included three boundaries and three sixes, while Rhodes remained undefeated on 20 off 14 deliveries, which included three sixes.
Ponting bashed three boundaries and three sixes during his unbeaten innings of 48
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Akhtar was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Muttiah Muralitharan claimed one.
Tendulkar was disappointed to have lost the match, and said: “The first match has been really special. We thoroughly enjoyed being here. New York, you were brilliant. Houston and LA, you are going to find it difficult to match them. It was a bit competitive at some stages. Ricky batted well and Sanga batted well and that partnership won the game for them.
“Our opening partnership was good, it was important to build after that. Shane and the other guys really bowled well. The tournament is called Warne v Tendulkar and all that, but we are here, 30 superstars, and as long as we play good cricket that’s all that matters. The bodies are holding on. We saw while Shoaib was bowling today that we were competitive. That’s all we need to do.”
Warne, who was named Man of the Match, was delighted to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “All the fans – 36000 people turned up to watch cricket in a baseball stadium. We wanted to be comeptitive. There was some skillful batting and bowling and fielding out there. But we know they will come back hard in Houston. A lot of the guys have trained hard, they are proud people, they don’t want to be embarrassed and they were not today.
“The first two-three balls, I couldn’t get them through past halfway. But after that it was alright. There hasn’t been a media outlet we haven’t been to. The highlight was Sachin ringing the bell at the NY stock exchange. To have my father there as well. it’s been wonderful. We hope everyone on TV has enjoyed it. Thank you to the fans.”