Cricket All-Stars Series 2015: Highlights, Scorecard, Recap from Dodger Stadium
Warne's Warriors made it a 3-0 whitewash as they beat Sachin's Blasters by four wickets with one ball remaining at the 2015 Cricket All-Stars Series in Los Angeles.
The Blasters elected to bat first and racked up an impressive 219 for five, but in a dramatic finish, Warriors captain Shane Warne hit a six off his first ball to seal the victory.
Blasters captain Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly helped their side to a solid total thanks to half-centuries apiece, though Jacques Kallis and Daniel Vettori bowled extremely well, the former producing an economy of just 5.66 while the latter took three wickets.
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Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar opened for the Blasters and quickly set about piling on the runs, the latter hitting 56 from just 27 balls thanks to six sixes. ESPN Cricinfo shared the highlights:
The pair were eventually taken by Courtney Walsh and Vettori, respectively, but Mahela Jayawardene and Ganguly continued where they had left off as the Blasters were 122 for one from nine overs.
The former hit a highly respectable 41 from just 18 balls, while the latter knocked 50 before being deceived by some exquisite spin-bowling from Vettori.
Carl Hooper hit a 33 not out while Vettori took Moin Khan on his first ball and VVS Laxman faced just one delivery also. Here is the full scorecard for the Blasters:
| V Sehwag | c Kallis b Walsh | 27 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 180.00 |
| SR Tendulkar* | st Sangakkara b Vettori | 56 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 207.40 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | c Donald b Symonds | 41 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 227.77 |
| SC Ganguly | b Vettori | 50 | 37 | 3 | 3 | 135.13 |
| CL Hooper | not out | 33 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 150.00 |
| Moin Khan | c Warne b Vettori | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| VVS Laxman | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | (lb 4, w 6, nb 1) | 11 | ||||
| Total | (5 wickets; 20 overs) | 219 | ||||
| AA Donald | 3 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 16.00 | |
| CA Walsh | 3 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 13.66 | |
| JH Kallis | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 5.66 | |
| SK Warne | 4 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 10.75 | |
| DL Vettori | 4 | 0 | 33 | 3 | 8.25 | |
| A Symonds | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 11.00 |
Michael Vaughan's dismissal for a golden duck in the opening delivery of the Warrior's stand got the them off to a difficult start, and Matthew Hayden managed just 12 runs to compound that.
Andrew Symond's 31 and Jonty Rhodes' 17 also failed to make a significant dent in the Blasters' total, but Kumar Sangakkara, Kallis and Ricky Ponting each came close to half-centuries as they reeled in their opponents.
The Cricket All-Stars official Twitter feed revealed how the match was poised for a dramatic finish:
"Exciting finish coming up - #warneswarriors need 23 off 10 balls!!
— Cricket All Stars (@T20AllStars) November 15, 2015"
Sehwag did his best to stem the tide as he saw Kallis caught on 47, but in came captain Warne, who hit a stunning six at deep midwicket on his first ball. Here is the Warriors' scorecard:
| MP Vaughan | b Ambrose | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| ML Hayden | run out (Laxman/†Moin Khan) | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 200.00 |
| A Symonds | c Jayawardene b Swann | 31 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 163.15 |
| JN Rhodes | c Sehwag b Hooper | 17 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 70.83 |
| KC Sangakkara† | c Sehwag b Swann | 42 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 200.00 |
| RT Ponting | not out | 43 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 172.00 |
| JH Kallis | c & b Sehwag | 47 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 204.34 |
| SK Warne* | not out | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 600.00 |
| Extras | (lb 11, w 14, nb 1) | 26 | ||||
| Total | (6 wickets; 19.5 overs) | 224 | ||||
| CEL Ambrose | 3 | 0 | 45 | 1 | 15.00 | |
| GD McGrath | 3 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 15.66 | |
| GP Swann | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 5.25 | |
| M Muralitharan | 4 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 8.75 | |
| SC Ganguly | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16.00 |
Three impressive performances earned Sangakkara the player of the series accolade:
The thrilling series has been a resounding success in delivering the best cricket has to offer to American audiences, while seeing so many former stars in action brought a welcome feeling of nostalgia for those more familiar with their careers.
Don't be surprised if the All-Stars series returns to the United States again in the future.
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