Ranchi, – A magnificent knock of 89 runs off 54 balls from Gurkeerat Singh Mann steered Urbanrisers Hyderabad to a thrilling three runs win over India Capitals at the fifth match of Legends League Cricket (LLC) being played at JSCA International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. This is the second win for UrbanRisers Hyderabad in the league.
The Capitals won the toss and decided to field first, which was justified by their bowlers. Hyderabad openers Dwayne Smith (3) and Martin Guptill (2) returned to the pavilion cheaply, taking the score to 10/2. Sensing the danger, both the new batters – Gurkeerat Singh Mann and skipper Suresh Rana held the fort for the partnership of 92 runs and steer the score to beyond 100.
Suresh Raina (46) fell against KP Appanna. But Mann and new batter Peter Trego gave more strength to the team with another partnership of 65 runs. Munaf Patel prevented dangerous looking Mann from scoring a century by dismissing him with 167/4 on the board.
Meanwhile, unbeaten Trego continued his aggression with 36runs in just 20 balls. Stuart Binny added one run while Yogesh Nagar remained not out after scoring six runs. Isuru Udana took a total of two wickets.
India Capitals during their chase lost its top order batting line – skipper Gautam Gambhir (0), Hashim Amla (5), Kirk Edwards (11) and Ben Dunk (5) well before the end of powerplay with 43 on the board. Kevin Pieterson and Ricardo Powell averted the mounting threat with a partnership of 72 runs which ended by Mpofu as he clinched Powell (26) leaving the side at 115/5. Pietersen stitched yet another vital partnership of 42 runs with new batter Ashley Nurse and brought the team closer to the target. Pietersen with his knock of 77 runs off 48 balls was dominated by Suyal who bowled him in the 18th over of the inning. The Englishman hammered six sixes and four boundaries.
From 157/6, a nice little cameo from Ashley Nurse (41 runs off 25 balls) failed to bring victory for Capitals as their opponent successfully restricted them at 186/6 . Chris Mpofu took a total of two wickets.
