Credit: WCL
On Saturday, July 26, India Champions lost to Australia Champions by four wickets with a ball to spare in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 clash at Leeds in Headingley. After posting a very good total of 203/4 on the board in their allotted 20 overs on the back of fifties from Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan, India Champions bowlers couldn’t defend the runs with Callum Ferguson taking his team past the finishing line with a fifty of his own.
For the unversed, after winning the toss, Brett Lee, the captain of Australia Champions, decided to field first, but his decision didn’t turn out to be right for his team. India Champions openers Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Utthappa shared a 57-run opening stand in the powerplay stage with the latter scoring 37 off just 21, an innings which included three fours and three sixes.
Dan Christian picked up the key wicket of Robin Uthappa before dismissing Ambati Rayudu for a two-ball duck, bringing Australia Champions right back into the contest. While Shikhar Dhawan kept the scoreboard ticking along at his end, India Champions lost the wicket of Suresh Raina for 11 on the bowling of Brett Lee before Steve O’Keefe did for Yuvraj Singh after the latter had scored just three runs.
It led to India Champions finding themselves on 103/4 in 12.2 overs, needing a partnership to take their innings forward, which is what Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan provided to the team. These two former Indian cricketers shared an unbeaten stand of 100 runs in double-quick time for the fifth wicket, especially with Yusuf Pathan bringing his power game to the floor, scoring 52 off just 23 with three fours and four sixes.
Shikhar Dhawan batted throughout the innings for India Champions, staying unbeaten on 91 off 60 with 12 fours and one six, to help the team post a big total in excess of 200 runs. In the pursuit of a 204-run target, Australia Champions lost the wicket of Chris Lynn relatively early to Harbhajan Singh, but he scored 25 runs in just 10 balls with one four and three sixes.
After that, it was the Piyush Chawla show with the ball as far as India Champions were concerned, dismissing Shaun Marsh and Ben Dunk on back-to-back deliveries, with the latter going back to the pavilion on the first ball for zero runs. He also took the vital wicket of D’Arcy Short for 20 off 15, reducing Australia Champions to 65-4 in 7.5 overs.
With their backs against the wall, Dan Christian and Callum Ferguson shared a 90-run stand for the fifth wicket, to bring their team back into the contest. With the dismissal of Christian on the bowling of Vinay Kumar on 39 off 28 with five fours and one six, the responsibility of taking Australia Champions over the line rested on Ferguson, who did it with an unbeaten innings of 70 in 38 with five fours and four sixes.
