RANCHI, India, CMC – Former West Indies batting star Chris Gayle sparkled briefly but it was not enough to stop his Gujarat Giants from sliding to a ten-run defeat to Manipal Tigers in the second match of the Legends League here yesterday.
In pursuit of a challenging 174 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Giants fell short at 153 for nine, the 44-year-old Gayle lashing a characteristically robust 38 off 24 balls with seven fours and a six.
The left-hander put on 75 off 40 deliveries with South African Jacques Kallis, whose top score of 56 came from 42 balls and included eight fours.
When the partnership was broken, three wickets went down for 24 runs but Kallis rallied the innings again in a 55-run, fourth wicket stand with captain Parthiv Patel, who struck four fours and a six in a fluent 26-ball knock.
Seamer Parvinder Awana finished with four for 19 while Sri Lankan pacer Thisara Perera (2-6) and former India Test star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (2-14) claimed two wickets apiece.
Sent in earlier, Tigers rattled up 173 for eight off their 20 overs with Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza top-scoring with an 18-ball 37, Perera getting 32 from 17 balls and opener Robin Uthappa hitting 23 from 17 balls.
West Indies’ Chadwick Walton made 17 at the top of the order while former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies medium pacer Rayad Emrit took a single wicket from his four overs. Former West Indies left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn sent down a single over which cost 16 runs.
