0
CARDIFF (Wales), Oct 6: The Rest of the World Xi won the second ‘Power Cricket’ match and the series at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium after Wasim Akram kept his cool in a nail-biting final over.
Britain XI’s betting pair Robert Key and captain Nasser Hussain were set a target of 18 off the final over as they chased 141 to win.
Hussain smashed a six off Wasim, who bowled well to restrict Britain Xi to 138-8.
With the Rest of the World XI winning the first match on Friday, Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda de Silva gave them a solid base for victory in this second match with 61 runs as they reached 142-7 from their first 15 overs.
Rest of World XI, led by New Zealand skipper Stephan Fleming, picked up the 50,000 pounds (US$78,500) ‘winner takes all’ prize money.
Despite sparse crowds in the 74,000-seater stadium which is more used to staging rugby union internationals, the first ‘Power Cricket’ matches played in Britain received an enthusiastic response from the players.
“Everybody was excited and I enjoyed every bit of it,” said Wasim.
Power Cricket differs from conventional forms of the game in several ways.
A match consists of two 15-over innings per side and batsmen also score bonus runs when they hit the ball into different tiers of the stadium’s stands.
A hit straight into the lower tier was a six but balls landing directly in the middle section were classed as an eight with those going into the top deck were worth 10 runs.
Scoreboard
REST OF WORLD XI (1st Innings):
Saeed Anwar c Croft b Saggers 1
Azhar Mahmood run out 2
N.J. Astle c Fleming b Cork 11
P.A. de Silva c Brown b Fleming 61
Shahid Afridi c Key b Ealham 28
A. Flower c Saggers b Cork 16
D.P.M. Jayawardena c Cork b Ealham 0
Wasim Akram not out 14
S.P. Fleming not out 3
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-3, NB-1) 6
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 15 overs) 142
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-15, 3-21, 4-86, 5-112, 6-112, 7-129.
DID NOT BAT: Yuvraj Singh, Mushtaq Ahmed, A. Khan, J. Srinath, M. Muralitharan, C.A. Walsh.
BOWLING: Saggers 3-0-24-1; Cork 5-0-38-2 (1nb, 1w); Ealham 5-0-54-2 (1w); Fleming 2-0-24-1.
BRITAIN XI (1st Innings):
D.P. Fulton b Bond 22
R.W.T. Key c Flower b Wasim 8
N. Hussain b Bond 16
J.P. Crawley c Astle b Wasim 1
A.D. Brown c Flower b M’tharan 54
A.J. Hollioake b Walsh 16
M.P. Maynard not out 8
M.A. Ealham c Shahid b Walsh 0
R.A. Smith c Shahid b M’tharan 2
M.V. Fleming c Azhar b Walsh 1
R.C. Irani not out 1
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, W-4, NB-2) 13
TOTAL (for nine wkts, 15 overs) 143
FALL OF WKTS: 1-25, 2-37, 3-38, 4-75, 5-115, 6-123, 7-123, 8-128, 9-133.
DID NOT BAT: J.S. Foster, D.G. Cork, R.D.B. Croft, S.P. Jones, M.J. Saggers.
BOWLING: Wasim Akram 5-0-45-2 (2w); Bond 5-0-53-2 (1nb); Muralitharan 3-0-21-2 (1w); Walsh 2-0-17-3 (1nb, 2w).
REST OF WORLD XI (2nd Innings):
Saeed Anwar b Saggers 0
S.P. Fleming b Saggers 43
N.J. Astle b Cork 1
P.A. de Silva c Fulton b Saggers 7
A. Flower b Saggers 1
Shahid Afridi c Foster b Saggers 35
D.P.M. Jayawardena c Foster b Ealham 5
Azhar Mahmood c and b Ealham 21
Wasim Akram c Hussain b Hollioake 12
A. Khan st Foster b Ealham 2
S.E. Bond not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-10, NB-1) 13
TOTAL (all out, 14.3 overs) 141
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-1, 3-11, 4-13, 5-91, 6-91, 7-106, 8-135, 9-140.
BOWLING: Saggers 5-0-18-5; Cork 3-0-47-1 (1nb, 2w); Fleming 1-0-26-0; Hollioake 3-0-29-1 (2w); Ealham 2.3-0-19-3 (1w).
BRITAIN XI (2nd Innings):
M.P. Maynard st Flower b M’tharan 44
R.A. Smith c J’wardena b Walsh 21
R.D.B. Croft b Bond 9
R.C. Irani hit wkt b Wasim 6
A.D. Brown b M’tharan 7
D.P. Fulton c Shahid b Wasim 2
R.W.T. Key not out 23
J.P. Crawley b Wasim 4
A.J. Hollioake b M’tharan 0
N. Hussain not out 8
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-7, W-4, NB-2) 14
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 15 overs) 138
FALL OF WKTS: 1-34, 2-72, 3-79, 4-85, 5-93, 6-101, 7-114, 8-123.
BOWLING: Walsh 3-0-48-1 (1nb); Muralitharan 5-1-32-3 (1nb, 2w); Bond 2-0-20-1; Wasim Akram 5-0-30-3 (2w).
RESULT: Rest of World XI won by two runs.
UMPIRES: J.H. Evans and V.A. Holder.
TV UMPIRE: K.J. Lyons.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wasim Akram.
FIRST MATCH: Rest of World Xi won by seven wickets.
NOTE: 16 players per side (11 bat, 11 field).—AFP
