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India produced a brutal display with the bat as they hunted 145 in just 13.2 overs to improve their net run-rate and storm into the WCL semifinal where they will face Pakistan.
India recorded a five-wicket win over West Indies. (Screengrab/Fancode)
India Champions have stormed back into title contention after being on the brink of elimination in the ongoing World Championship of Legends 2025 in England. The Yuvraj Singh-led defending champions needed to record a big win in their final league match of the tournament after poor show resulted in three consecutive defeats. Facing West Indies Champions on Tuesday, the Indian team overhauled the target of 145 in just 13.2 overs for a five-wicket win and improve their net run-rate that pushed them ahead in the points table to open the door for a semifinal spot.
Interestingly, India Champions will now face Pakistan Champions on Thursday for a spot in the final. A league stage match between the two teams was earlier cancelled following the withdrawals of several Indian players who cited diplomatic tensions between the countries as the reason.
3 Defeats, 1 No Result, 1 Win And Still In Semis? How?
Well, India Champions benefitted from the sorry show of fellow contenders West Indies Champions and England Champions. After their tournament opener clash with Pakistan Champions was cancelled, the Indian team received a point and then suffered a massive 88-run defeat to South Africa. They ended up losing their next two matches against Australia and hosts England as well.
On the brink of elimination, Indian hopes now rested on a big win over West Indies, a team that had won just one of their four fixtures – against England Champions.
India opted to bowl first and produced a solid effort with the ball to restrict West Indies to 144/9 despite a blistering innings from the legendary Kieron Pollard who belted an unbeaten 74 off 43. Piyush Chawla was the pick of the India bowlers, finishing with bowling figures of 3/18 from four overs and received solid support from Stuart Binny (2/17) while Varun Aaron, while being expensive, also picked up a couple of wickets too.
India needed to chase down 145 in 14.1 overs climb up on the points table and improve their net-run rate with England (three points) and West Indies in contention.
India lost openers Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan inside the Powerplay and by the start of the 8th over were 52/4, needing 93 runs off 42 deliveries to qualify.
Stuart Binny struck a blistering 21-ball fifty while Yuvraj made 21 off 11 to push India’s charge. Yusuf Pathan joined the fun, blasting 7-ball 21* while also hitting the winning six off the second delivery of 14th over.
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital…Read More
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital… Read More
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