Warne Warriors Beat Sachin Blasters

Sachin’s Blasters suffered their third consecutive defeat against Warne’s Warriors, going down by four wickets in a last-over thriller, to lose the Cricket All-Stars T20 Series 0-3 at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for them, Ganguly and Carl Hooper couldn’t tee off from the first ball as the Warriors’ spinners, along with Jacques Kallis brought down the run rate.

Sachin Blasters put up a target of 219/5 in all 20 overs with outstanding batting of SR Tendulkar who smashed 56 runs whereas Warne Warrior’s team bowler DL Vettori snatched three wickets.

Electing to bat, skipper Tendulkar laid the foundation for a mammoth score as he first shared a 23-ball 55-run partnership with Virender Sehwag (27) and then forged a 74-run stand with Mehela Jayawardene (41) in just 34 balls.

Chasing 220, Warriors made the worst possible start with Michael Vaughan getting bowled off a Curtly Ambrose delivery.

A steady 50-run partnership for the second wicket by Matthew Hayden (12) and Andrew Symonds (31) steadied their ship but it was rocked back again by the dismissal of the duo in the space of an over. Jonty Rhodes then chipped in with an uncharacteristic 17 off 24 balls.

Blasters were favourites to win the match after having scored 219 for 5 in their innings, but they leaked a huge amount of runs in the final few overs and as a result conceded the match as well. Jacques Kallis was awarded Man of the Match while Kumar Sangakkara walked away with Man of the Series.

But Kallis’ arrival at the crease proved to be the spark they needed, the South African all-rounder smashing four fours and four sixes in a sublime innings of 47 off 23 balls.

However, Warne, the new man on strike, guided his team home with a spectacular six off the penultimate ball that left Tendulkar in admirance of his arch-rival.

Shane Warne & Co. lead the three-match series 1-0. Sachin’s champ GP Swann took two wickets.