[Watch] Harbhajan Singh cleans up Irfan Pathan in the inaugural match of Legends League Cricket 2024
Manipal Tigers skipper Harbhajan Singh outfoxed Irfan Pathan, the captain of Konark Suryas Odisha, in the first game of Legends League Cricket 2024 on Friday, September 20. The game is being played at Barkatullah Khan Stadium in Jodhpur.
The dismissal occurred on the second ball of the 12th over. Harbhajan Singh, bowling around the wicket to Irfan, delivered a length ball aimed at the stumps. The ball stayed a bit low, and as Irfan was on the back foot, it slipped under his bat and struck the stumps. The left-handed batter scored 18 runs off 23 balls, including two boundaries, leaving Odisha in a tough spot at 54/5 after 11.2 overs.
Here’s the video of the dismissal:
Manipal won the toss and chose to bowl first. Ambati Rayudu had a disappointing performance, falling for just eight runs to Anureet Singh. Soon after, Richard Levi (6) and Kevin O'Brien (6) were dismissed, leaving Odisha three wickets down during the powerplay.
Ross Taylor struggled significantly, scoring just 14 runs off 28 balls. Meanwhile, Yusuf Pathan was dismissed for three runs off eight balls. Navin Stewart (17 off 12 balls) and Vinay Kumar (11* off 5 balls) provided decent cameos as Konark Suryas Odisha finished their innings at 104/9 in 20 overs.
Harbhajan Singh’s Manipal Tigers lose half of their side for just 21 runs
Chasing a target of 105, the Manipal Tigers got off to a rough start, losing Robin Uthappa for a duck on the second ball to Shahbaz Nadeem. Vinay Kumar struck next, dismissing Solomon Mire in the following over. Ben Laughlin added to the woes by taking out Manoj Tiwary in the third.
Saurabh Tiwary (5 runs off 17 balls) and Angelo Perera (5 runs off 14 balls) tried to stabilize the innings, but their efforts were in vain as the Tigers lost half their team for just 21 runs. At the time of writing, they were 24/5 after 10 overs, still needing 81 runs to win, with Asela Gunaratne (8) and Daniel Christian (1) at the crease.