In the final match of the International Masters League T20, India Masters defeated West Indies Masters by 6 wickets to capture the trophy.
Brilliant batting by Ambati Rayudu (74 runs) and lethal bowling by Vinay Kumar (3 wickets) became the heroes of India’s victory.
West Indies Masters’ innings: Simmons and Smith scored runs, but the team fell apart
West Indies Masters batted first and scored 148/7 on the strength of Dwayne Smith and Lendl Simmons.
However, Brian Lara and other batsmen could not contribute much, due to which the team did not get a chance to score big. Indian bowlers bowled tightly, specially Shahbaz Nadeem and Vinay Kumar together took 5 wickets and stopped West Indies from scoring many runs.
Top Scorer – West Indies Masters:
- Lendl Simmons – 57 (41 balls, 5 fours, 1 six)
- Dwayne Smith – 45 (35 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes)
- Denesh Ramdin – 12 (17 balls)
- Brian Lara – 6 (6 balls, 1 four)
- William Perkins – 6 (7 balls, 1 six)
Top Bowler – India Masters:
- Vinay Kumar – 3 overs, 26 runs, 3 wickets
- Shahbaz Nadeem – 4 overs, 12 runs, 2 wickets
- Stuart Binny – 2 overs, 11 runs, 1 wicket
- Pawan Negi – 3 overs, 30 runs, 1 wicket
- Dhawal Kulkarni – 4 overs, 19 runs, 0 wickets
India Masters’ innings: Rayudu’s bat spoke, India captured the trophy
Chasing the target, India Masters had a good start, where Ambati Rayudu and Sachin Tendulkar scored fast runs.
However, after the dismissal of Tendulkar and Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the team came under a bit of pressure, but Rayudu held one end.
Yusuf Pathan got out on zero, but Stuart Binny (16 runs, 9 balls) played fast shots and led the team to victory.
India made 149/4 in 17.1 overs and won the match and the trophy.
Top Scorer – India Masters:
- Ambati Rayudu – 74 (50 balls, 9 fours, 3 sixes)
- Sachin Tendulkar – 25 (18 balls, 2 fours, 1 six)
- Gurkeerat Singh Mann – 14 (12 balls, 2 fours)
- Stuart Binny – 16 (9 balls, 2 sixes)
- Yuvraj Singh – 13 (11 balls, 1 four)
Top Bowler – West Indies Masters:
- Ashley Nurse – 3.1 overs, 22 runs, 2 wickets
- Sulieman Ben – 4 overs, 28 runs, 1 wicket
- Tino Best – 3 overs, 34 runs, 1 wicket
- Ravi Rampaul – 4 overs, 28 runs, 0 wickets
- Jerome Taylor – 3 overs, 33 runs, 0 wickets
Decisive moment of the match
Ambati Rayudu’s match-winning innings and Shahbaz Nadeem’s economical bowling made India Masters the champions.
Stuart Binny came in at the last moment and batted fast and gave India a great victory.
This victory was historic for India Masters, where they won the trophy by performing brilliantly in the final match.
