Cricket All-Stars Series 2015: Highlights, Scorecard, Recap from New York Match
Warne's Warriors beat Sachin's Blasters by six wickets in the first match of the 2015 Cricket All-Stars Series in New York.
The Blasters batted first and scored 140 for 8, but Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara hit 81 runs between them to help the Warriors win with 16 balls remaining.
Shane Warne grabbed three wickets, including the dismissals of opposing team captain Sachin Tendulkar and the legendary Brian Lara, while the Blasters' Virender Sehwag hit the series' first half-century in just 22 balls.
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Sehwag and Tendulkar kicked things off for the Blasters after the Warriors elected to field first, and the pair wasted no time in racking up the runs.
In the fifth and sixth overs, the former had great success in a tremendous run of hits against Jacques Kallis and Courtney Walsh, per ESPNcricinfo:
Indian cricket writer Anand Subramaniam was among many delighted with his performance as he rolled back the years:
Meanwhile, Tendulkar knocked a respectable 26 from 27 balls.
Both fell in quick succession, though, when the former mistimed his effort to send a ball high in the air toward mid-off for Kallis to make a magnificent leaping catch, per ESPNcricinfo:
On the next ball, Daniel Vettori deceived Sehwag with a slow ball that struck wickets cleanly.
Warne stole the show after delivering the ball that dismissed Tendulkar, as he took replacement Lara for an lbw at the end of the following over. Cricket journalist Mazher Arshad highlighted Warne's outstanding performance:
The Australian also took VVS Laxman, and from there, none of the Blasters were able to record more than 18 runs, thanks also to a strong performance from Wasim Akram, per Arshad:
Here is the Blasters' scorecard:
| V Sehwag | b Vettori | 55 | 22 | 3 | 6 | 250.00 |
| SR Tendulkar | c Kallis b Warne | 26 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 96.29 |
| VVS Laxman | st Sangakkara b Warne | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 88.88 |
| BC Lara | lbw b Warne | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | c sub (AB Agarkar) b Symonds | 18 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 120.00 |
| CL Hooper | lbw b Symonds | 11 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 57.89 |
| SM Pollock | c Kallis b Donald | 11 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 122.22 |
| Moin Khan | c Kallis b Symonds | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| CEL Ambrose | not out | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.28 |
| M Muralitharan | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | (lbw 4, w 2) | 6 | ||||
| Total | (8 wickets, 20 overs) | 140 | ||||
| Wasim Akram | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| AA Donald | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 7.66 | |
| CA Walsh | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| JH Kallis | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 19.00 | |
| SK Warne | 4 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 5.00 | |
| DL Vettori | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 3.25 | |
| A Symonds | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 7.50 |
ESPNcricinfo shared the full highlights:
Kallis and Matthew Hayden began the Warriors' innings at the crease, and the pair got off to a solid start before falling in quick succession.
Hayden was caught by Moin Khan behind the wicket after clipping Shoaib Akhtar's short, pacey delivery with his glove, and on the next ball, Kallis was run out from an excellent throw from Muttiah Muralitharan.
In came Ponting and Sangakkara, and they quickly ate into the Warriors' target of 141 runs.
Sangakkara hit two fours and three sixes before being dismissed by Akhtar for 41, while Ponting hit an outstanding 48 not out. The Australian faced 38 balls and racked up three fours and sixes apiece.
Jonty Rhodes hit 20 not out and sealed the win for his side with a reverse-swept six.
Here is the Warriors' scorecard:
| JH Kallis | run out (Muralitharan) | 13 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 108.33 |
| ML Hayden | c Moin Khan b Shoaib Akhtar | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| RT Ponting | not out | 48 | 38 | 3 | 3 | 126.31 |
| KC Sangakkara | c Jayawardene b Shoaib Akhtar | 41 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 141.37 |
| A Symonds | lbw b Muralitharan | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.28 |
| JN Rhodes | not out | 20 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 142.85 |
| Extras | (b 2, lb 2, w 10) | 14 | ||||
| Total | (4 wickets; 17.2 overs) | 141 | ||||
| Shoaib Akhtar | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | |
| SM Pollock | 3 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| CEL Ambrose | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 12.00 | |
| M Muralitharan | 4 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 4.50 | |
| CL Hooper | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 6.66 |
The match was a thoroughly entertaining affair, and the presence of so many legends of the sport gave the event a wonderful atmosphere of nostalgia.
The cricket delighted the crowd at Citi Field in New York, so Warne and Tendulkar can expect a similarly positive response when they take the series to Houston and Los Angeles.
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