Muscat
Asghar Afghan's all-round performance has helped Asia Lions beat India Maharajas by 36 runs in the Legends League Cricket tournament here at Al Amerat ground. Maharajas lost Naman Ojha, the centurion from their previous match, while chasing a target of 194 on Monday. On a short and outside off-stump Shoaib Akhtar delivery, Ojha (4) fought substitute fielder Ajantha Mendis at deep point. Wasim Jaffer whacked Dilhara Fernando for three back-to-back boundaries.
Soon, Mohammad Rafique dismissed Jaffer (35) who holed out to the deep. Afghan rattled the middle-order, picking the crucial wickets of Yusuf Pathan (21) and Mohammad Kaif (1) to ensure Maharajas stay on the back foot. With the asking run rate climbing, Manpreet Gony took charge of Maharajas but couldn't find support at the other end. While he remained unbeaten on 35, Lions restricted Maharajas to 157/8. Earlier, Afghan's unbeaten 28-ball 69 cameo took Lions to 193/4 after being put into bat. Lions suffered a massive blow on the first ball as Stuart Binny caught and bowled Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck.
Salvi trapped the other opener Romesh Kaluwitharana leg-before for 13, reducing Lions to 29/2 inside powerplay overs. Upul Tharanga, who had scored two fifty-plus scores in two games, went onto register his third consecutive half-century. He along with Afghan took Lions past the 150-run mark. Bhandari finally got the better of Tharanga (72 off 45 balls), ending his entertaining knock, which saw four sixes and seven fours.
Towards the end, Afghan displayed a Chris Gayle-esque innings as he smashed seven maximums and four boundaries. Brief scores: Asia Lions 193/4 in 20 overs (Upul Tharanga 72, Asghar Afghan 69; Amit Bhandari 2/41) beat India Maharajas 157/8 in 20 overs (Manpreet Gony 35 not out; Nuwan Kulasekara 2/14, Asghar Afghan 2/23) by 36 runs.