Jammu : India Capitals pulled off a crucial four-wicket win over Gujarat Greats, keeping their playoff hopes alive in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2024. The match went till the last ball, in which captain Ian Bell led his team to victory while chasing the target of 135 runs at the Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu. Ian Bell was given the Legend of the Match award for his unbeaten innings of 41 runs to help his team win.
Gujarat Greats won the toss and decided to bat first, but their innings faltered early on. India Capitals' star bowler Iqbal Abdullah made an immediate impact, dismissing Gujarat captain Shikhar Dhawan for just one run in the second over.
Chris Gayle gave some explosive performance by hitting five fours in his quick innings of 21 runs off 11 balls, but his innings was cut short by Dhawal Kulkarni by getting him caught at mid-off. Abdullah continued his fine form and took two more quick wickets, including that of opener Morne van Wyk (10 off 16 balls) and Manan Sharma (0 off 1 ball), taking Gujarat's score to 38/4 by the 6th over. .
The middle order took over the innings and Mohammad Kaif (40 off 41 balls) and Yashpal Singh (20 off 29 balls) added 65 runs for the fifth wicket. However, Gujarat struggled to score runs quickly and finished at 134/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Abdullah was the best of the bowlers for India Capitals, taking figures of 3-24, while Kulkarni took figures of 2-17.
India Capitals, which set out to chase the target of 135 runs, had a bad start. In the second over, impact player Dwayne Smith was out on zero on the ball of Manan Sharma. Manan continued to wreak havoc, dismissing Naman Ojha (2 off 11 balls) and Iqbal Abdullah (0 off 2 balls) in quick succession to take Capitals' score to 25/3.
Colin de Grandhomme brought some momentum by scoring 14 runs off 6 balls, but he too fell victim to Manan Sharma. By the end of the power-play, India Capitals were in deep trouble at 39/4. Captain Ian Bell and Ben Dunk again tried to take control of the innings, with Dunk hitting two sixes before making 22 off 14 balls, taking the Capitals' score to 74/5 after 10 overs.
With Capitals needing 61 runs off 60 balls, Ian Bell and Bharat Chipley took over the innings and made a vital partnership of 42 runs for the sixth wicket. Chipley played a crucial inning of 22 runs off 21 balls but was unfortunately run out, leaving Capitals' score at 109/6 in the 16th over.
With 31 runs needed off the last 30 balls, Bell took charge and took the Capitals closer to victory. Despite not hitting any boundaries, Bell remained unbeaten on 41 off 49 balls, while Ashley Nurse (11 not out off 11 balls) provided vital support. In the final over, when 1 run was needed off the last ball, Bell kept his composure to score the winning run and give the Capitals a crucial win by 4 wickets.
The win moved India Capitals to second place in the standings with six points. They will face Manipal Tigers in their final league match in Srinagar on October 10 with a chance to seal their place in the playoffs.
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