A new chapter started in the rivalry between Pakistan's Shahid Afridi and India's Gautam Gambhir with their sides locking horns against each other in the US Masters T10 League. It is pertinent to note that while Afridi plays for New York Warriors in the league, Gambhir plays for the New Jersey Tritons and both their sides squared off on Sunday. It was the New York Warriors who batted first in this fixture. The likes of Kamran Akmal and Richard Levi helped the side off to a great start but the run rate was dipping after the openers departed in quick succession.
It was there that Afridi, playing at number four, was at his incredible best. He rolled back the years and played a few hard-hitting strokes around the park making sure that the team finishes on a high. Overall, the former Pakistan skipper scored 37 runs off 12 balls, with his knock including six fours and two sixes. His innings ensured that Warriors could post a formidable 84-run total in five overs.
The video highlight of his innings went viral on social media:
Despite Afridi's muscle power during his stint with the bat though, eventually it was Jesse Ryder's 38 off 12 including three boundaries and four sixes that helped Gambhir's Tritons emerge as the winners. They chased down the total in 4.4 overs. Captain Gambhir did not get to bet in the run-chase as they had 9 wickets in the bag. Yusuf Pathan remained unbeaten on 16 off 6 while Chris Barnwell was not out on 28 off 10. 8 runs were given away to the chasing side as extras.
As far as the overall stats of the tournament are concerned, Levi is currently leading the highest run-scoring charts with 82 runs in 2 innings while Ashley Nurse is the leading wicket-taker with 3 wickets in 1 innings.