New Delhi, Sports Desk. Thanks to the brilliant performance of Chris Gayle (57) and Brett Lee (3 wickets), World Giants defeated India Maharajas by three wickets with 8 balls to spare in the fifth match of Legends League Cricket 2023 on Wednesday. World Giants register their first win at LLC 2023.

In the match played at Doha’s West End Park International Cricket Stadium, India Maharajas batting first scored 136 runs losing 9 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, World Giants achieved the target in 18.4 overs losing seven wickets. This was India Maharajas’ second defeat in three matches.

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Chris Gayle Bats

Chasing the target of 137 runs, Chris Gayle and Hashim Amla (6) got the World Giants off to a great start with a 42-run partnership. Amla was dismissed lbw by Ashok Dinda to give the first blow to the World Giants. From here Gayle got the support of Shane Watson (26). Both shared a 51-run partnership for the second wicket. Pravin Tambe broke this partnership by bowling Watson

After this the India Maharajas bowlers turned the low scoring match into an exciting one. World Giants captain Aaron Finch (5), Ross Taylor (7), Samit Patel (12) and Ricardo Powell (3) dismissed in quick succession. Meanwhile, Gayle was lbw out by Raina. But Morne Van Wyk (10 *) and Tino Best (1 *) gave World Giants the win with eight balls to spare.

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Chris Gayle scored 57 runs in 46 balls with the help of 9 fours and a six. Shane Watson scored 26 runs in 16 balls with the help of 5 fours. Yusuf Pathan got two wickets from India. One wicket each came in the account of Suresh Raina, Pravin Tambe, Ashok Dinda and Harbhajan Singh.

Water Turned on Raina’s Innings

World Giants won the toss and invited India Maharajas to bat. India’s start was poor and Robin Uthappa (5) was caught by Samit Patel at the hands of Finch. Reetender Singh Sodhi (2) made the victim by Mofu. From here Manvinder Bisla (36) and Suresh Raina (49) shared a 60-run partnership for the third wicket. Monty Panesar broke the partnership by dismissing Bisla.

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Then India Maharajas got two shocks in quick succession. Yusuf Pathan (3) and Stuart Binny dismissed by Tino Best in two consecutive balls. Brett Lee prevented Suresh Raina from scoring a half-century. The left-handed batsman scored 49 runs in 41 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes. Apart from this, Irfan Pathan scored 25 runs in 20 balls with the help of 1 four and two sixes to take the team to a respectable score.