Surat: An all round performance helped Manipal Tigers to beat Urbanrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets with six balls remaining in the final of 2023 Legends League at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. With the win they also became the champions of the second edition of the Legends League Cricket.
Earlier, after losing the first qualifier to Urbanrisers Hyderabad, Manipal Tigers faced the winner of the eliminator match India Capitals in the second qualifier and defeated them to secure a place in the final of the tournament.
After winning the toss, captain of Manipal Tigers, Harbhajan Singh won the toss and opted to bowl first. For Urbanrisers Hyderabad, Dwayne Smith and Martin Guptill opened the innings. They faced an early setback as Guptill was dismissed by Pankaj Singh without opening his account. Dwayne Smith(21) was the next to get dismissed by Mitchel McClenaghan at the score of 36. Rikki Clarke(80) and Gurkeerat Singh(64) added 122 more runs for the third wicket before Gurkeerat was dismissed by Pankaj Singh. Peter Trego scored a quick fire 17 runs from six balls towards the end of the innings and helped his team to post a total of 187/5 at the end of 20th over.
For Manipal Tigers, Panjak Singh(2/43) was the pick of the bowlers. Mitchell Mcclenaghan and Thisara Perera also took one wicket each in the innings.
Chasing a target of 188 runs, Robin Uthappa and Chadwick Walton opened the innings for Manipal Tigers. The duo added 71 runs for the first wicket before Chadwick(29) was dismissed by Stuart Binny. Robin Uthappa(40) was the next to get dismissed followed by Amit Verma(8). Angelo Perera(30) and Asela Gunaratne(51) provided a solid partnership to Manipal Tigers and added 56 runs for the fourth wicket. After the dismissal of Angelo Perera, Thisara Perera joined Asela Gunaratne on the crease. Manipal Tigers needed just one run to win when Thisara Perera(25) got dismissed by Jerome Taylor. Colin de Grandhomme came to bat and hit a six of the first ball he faced over mid-wicket to finish the match in style and help Manipal Tigers to lift the 2023 Legends League Cricket trophy. Asela Gunaratne remained not out at the score of 51.
For Urbanrisers Hyderabad, Stuart Binny(3/20) was the pick of the bowlers while Shadab Jakati and Jerome Taylor took one wicket each.
