Anisa stops rampaging Lara in T20 thriller

NICKOLAI MADRAY

THE Ganga XI emerged victorious over Lara's XI in a super over thriller yesterday at the Daren Ganga Recreation Ground, Barrackpore. West Indies legend Brian Lara smashed a top score of an unbeaten 88 runs off 51 balls but still came out on the losing end after the match was tied. Lara was majestic in his knock but could not replicate his form in the super over as his team scored just seven runs. The 49 year old Lara shockingly was deceived by the spin of West Indies women's player Anisa Mohammed and was stumped by wicket-keeper Fazil Jahoor as he advanced down the pitch.

With eight runs to win, Windies icon Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ganga went in pursuit of the victory. Captain Ganga smashed a six off the second delivery bowled by Saif Mohammed but lost his wicket next ball. The ever reliable Chanderpaul scored the winning runs to seal victory and secure bragging rights for Ganga XI who are now 2-1 ahead after the tournament's third edition.

Earlier, Ganga XI won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision proved correct as they posted 181 runs for the loss of six wickets after their 20 overs.

The first boundary of the game came from opener Ryan Ruben in the second over and was quickly followed by another as the batsman went on the attack in the early stages.

After the first five overs, Ganga's team looked solid on 35 runs without loss. The first six of the day came in the sixth over off Kevin Manohar who then stroked a four to bring up the 50 for the home team. Manohar lost his wicket in the seventh over when he was bowled by Rajan Bhagoutie for 44 runs off 41 balls which included three fours and a six.

Chanderpaul then stepped to the crease alongside Ruben and contributed an explosive 21 runs off 12 balls before he was caught on the long off boundary.

Crowd favourite Ganga steadied his ship when he entered in the ninth over and unleashed six fours and four sixes. Ruben's wicket was the next to fall for a solid 28 runs off 27 balls. Ganga was then spectacularly caught by Sham Singh to end his innings on 65 runs off 29 balls.

With the target set for 182, Lara led the response in typical fashion. The "Prince of Port of Spain" superbly hunted down their target but was only able to level the scores after 20 overs. With 70 runs needed from 30 balls, Lara rolled back the years and executed fine strokes all over the ground. He blazed five fours and nine sixes to delight his fans who came to see him bat. With the scores knotted at 181 after 19.5 overs, the Lara XI were unable to score the winning run off the final ball of the innings.

Ganga, one of TT's best ever captains, needed to pull a master stroke to stop a rampaging Lara in the super over. The best man for the job was a woman, with Mohammed getting rid of Lara to swing the match to the Ganga XI's favour.

Special Awards:

Best Bowler – Terrence Bridgemohan

Best Batsman – Brian Lara

MVP – Anisa Mohammed