In the 3rd match of the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC), Asian Lions defeated World Giants by 35 runs after the game was reduced to a 10-over-a-side content due to rain at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on March 13 (Monday). Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi, two of the superstars and former captains of Pakistan, rolled back the clock and put on a vintage display and helped the Lions maintain their unbeaten streak in the competition. Misbah played an excellent knock with the bat while Afridi delivered a stifling spell with the ball.
Chasin a target of 100 runs in 10 overs, the Giants got off to a brilliant start with two West Indians - Lendl Simmons and Chris Gayle - unleashing five sixes between them. Once Afridi struck twice in quick succession, dismissing Gayle (23 runs off 16 balls) and Simmons (14 runs off 12 balls), the momentum changed. From 40/0 to 49/5, the Giants' middle order collapsed as a pack of cards and the team could only score 64/5 in 10 overs.
Captain Afridi finished the game with excellent figures of 2/11 in two overs while left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak also bagged two wickets. Sohail Tanvir chipped in with a wicket as well.
Earlier, the Giants' skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Lions weathered a poor start, courtesy of a fantastic partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Misbah for the third wicket. The dup combined for a 60-run partnership in just 28 balls and propelled the team's total to 99/3 in 20 overs.
Misbah remained unbeaten on 44 runs off 19 balls, which he scored with the help of four fours and three sixes. Dilshan remained unbeaten on 32 runs off 24 balls, which he scored with the help of three fours and a six.
For the Giants, Ricardo Powell, Gayle and Paul Collingwood bagged a wicket each.
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