Kevin O'Brien unleashed the beast in him as his scintillating century dampened opponent's Ashley Nurse's blistering ton to help Gujarat Giants down India Capitals by three wickets in the Legends League Cricket match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (September 17).
Chasing a handsome target of 180, Guajrat Giants overhauled the total with eight balls to spare.
O'Brien cracked a counter-attacking 61-ball 107 infused with 15 fours and three sixes to set up a narrow win for the Virender Sehwag-led side.
When O’Brien got out in the 18th over, the Giants needed only five runs to win off 15 balls. Parthiv Patel and Yashpal Singh scored 24 and 21 respectively and lent O’Brien support.
After O’Brien got out, the Giants lost a flurry of wickets, but got past the finish line. Pravin Tambe picked up three wickets for the Capitals, but his efforts went in vain.
Earlier, Nurse clobbered a 41-ball ton after the Capitals found themselves in a rabbit hole. Nurse made sure that the Capitals racked up a big score of 179 for seven in 20 overs. He came to bat in the seventh over after his team lost four wickets in the powerplay.
Thereafter, Nurse saw the Capitals being reduced to 74 for six in 12 overs. He started in a cautious way before teeing off in the death overs. The right-hander scored 21 runs off his first 17 balls, after which he got 81 runs off his next 24 balls.
Denesh Ramdin also played a handy knock of 31 off 26 with three fours and a six. Nurse, in the meantime, bowled two overs, conceded 21 runs and picked up the important wicket of Parthiv Patel.
