Score: Gemini Arabians 133-2 (Brad Hodge 65*, Kumar Sangakkara 41*, Robin Peterson 1-23) beat Leo Lions 132-7 (James Franklin 35, Scott Styris 32, Muttiah Muralitharan 4-19) by eight wickets
It was one of the duels that lit up the early years of this millennium, never more than when Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan faced off in Sri Lanka towards the end of 2001.
It was an epic battle, one of the great individual battles between two singular match-winners; Murali ended on top, with 24 wickets in a 3-0 series sweep. But Lara played him as only a genius could, pillaging 688 runs across the three Tests, with three hundreds. Murali did dismiss him twice.
On Saturday, 14 years later in Dubai as Murali’s Gemini Arabians took on Lara’s Leo Lions, the setting was rather less gladiatorial. Still, though it carried the promise of a recreation. It did not last, but it was a beautiful moment anyway.
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Murali, in his first over, from round the wicket pitched on Lara’s middle stump, broke it away from him sharply, squared him up and found the edge. Virender Sehwag, adding the little flourish, took a wonderful catch at slip, diving forward.
One ball is what this battle was reduced to; Lara was Murali’s second wicket in successive balls and one of four the spin legend took to set up a convincing second win for the Arabians.
He could even have had a hat-trick. The ball after Lara’s dismissal James Franklin almost lobbed a drive straight back to Murali. He got Franklin later anyway and having dismissed Brendan Taylor too, it really did make you wonder: surely he has not still got it has he?
There was still some sharp turn and the doosra was coming out nicely, more threateningly at least than his partner today and the creator of the doosra, Saqlain Mushtaq. The pair bowling briefly in tandem was another little nostalgic tug, but played out in a sparsely-populated stadium.
Murali restricted the Lions to a wholly inadequate 132, in itself a recovery given how they had started.
For a batting order that includes Kumar Sangakkara and Brad Hodge, that was never going to be any kind of challenge. The surface was slow and not given to strokeplay, so Sangakkara and Hodge simply bided their time, picking off the phalanx of Lions spinners.
They timed it perfectly, accelerating late in the innings. Hodge finished with a flourish, an unbeaten 65 seeing the Arabians home to a second consecutive win. Sangakkara was unbeaten on 41; they are not going to be easy to beat.
RAZZAQ RULES FOR THE COMMANDERS
Score: Capricorn Commanders 146-5 (Saleem Elahi 43*, Abdul Razzaq 39, Nathan Hauritz 2-20) beat Sagittarius Strikers (Adam Gilchrist 57, Yasir Hameed 32, Jeetan Patel 2-19) by three runs
Abdul Razzaq may have retired from international but you can be sure he still thinks he can do a job for Pakistan. In fact, once the Masters Champions League (MCL) is over, he will stay behind in his role as a supplementary player for Lahore Qalandars.
He carries a little more weight these days than the lean, chiseled allrounder who starred for Pakistan for a decade in the noughties. But his impact at this level is still evident.
He was called upon to bowl just one over for the Capricorn Commanders – the last one as it happens and he had to defend 9 runs against the Sagittarius Strikers. He used to be a gun death bowler at his peak, having conjured a number of remarkable last-over triumphs for Pakistan.
He did so for the Commanders here, conceding just five, picking up a wicket to secure a nerve-wracking 3-run victory. It was their first win of the league.
That he had a few runs to play with had mostly to do with Jeetan Patel. The Strikers were cruising when Patel came on to bowl the 16th over of the innings. Unafraid to flight the ball, he found good turn and dismissed both Jonathon Trott and, more significantly, Adam Gilchrist to derail the chase.
The Strikers were 106 for 2 at the start of that over, needing just 41 with plenty of wickets in hand. Gilchrist was reminding us all of what a freak batsman he was but instead, Patel spooked them, sparking a mini collapse of three wickets for four runs from which they never really recovered.
Razzaq was merely finishing off what he had begun earlier in the evening. The Commanders had struggled to get away on a slow track, especially against the spin of Nathan Hauritz. They only took off once Razzaq joined fellow Pakistani Saleem Elahi at the crease, putting on 64 for the fourth wicket to ensure they had a respectable total to defend.
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