LL 156/8 in 20 Overs│Live Cricket Score, Masters Champions League (MCL) 2016: Libra Legends vs Gemini Arabians, Match 1

Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of the opening fixture of the inaugural Masters Champions League (MCL) Twenty20 tournament, which will take place between Libra Legends and Gemini Arabians in Dubai on Thursday. We shall keep you updates of the match as and when they happen. Libra Legends is expected to be led by legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis after the pull out of Sourav Ganguly from the tournament due to a back spasm. Gemini Arabians, on the other hand, will be led by recently-retired Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag. Both teams boast of some of the most legendary names in international cricket.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 156/8 in 20 overs: Brad Hogg 1 (1), Ian Butler 1 (1): ARABIANS WIN!!!! That’s it as Gemini Arabians win the opening contest of the MCL on the opening day by a mammoth 78 runs as the total seemd to be just too big for the Legends.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 137/5 in 17 overs: Ryan ten Doeschate 51 (34), Tim Ambrose 19 (18): No har, done following the loss of Ervine’s wicket as both the batsmen look set to bat out the remaining overs, although a win situation seems to be out of the contest, as ten Doeschate scores his half-century.

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LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 98/5 in 12 overs: Ryan ten Doeschate 32 (18), Tim Ambrose 1 (3): GONE!!!! Ervine is the next man to be dismissed as he falls for 22 to Muralitharan, who bowls him up, while Tim Ambrose makesx his way in.

OUT! Sean Ervine b Muttiah Muralitharan 22 (19)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 81/4 in 10 overs: Ryan ten Doeschate 18 (12), Sean Ervine 21 (16): No harm done following the quick loss of four wicket as bioth the batsmen tend to bat steadily and make sure thay stay long enough as well as go for the bog shots in order to chase the mammoth total down, as they near the 100 runs.

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 46/4 in 6 overs: Ryan ten Doeschate 3 (2), Sean Ervine 1 (2): GONE!!!! And they seem to be tumbling apart as Marcus North has been stumped for mere five off Muttiah Muralitharan, while Sean Ervine makes his way in.

OUT! Marcus North st Kumar Sangakkara b Muttiah Muralitharan 5 (5)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 39/3 in 5 overs: Marcus North 1 (2), Ryan ten Doeschate 1 (1): GONE!!!! And it’s another opener in the form of Michael Lumb, who seemed to be going good, but feel to Mills after being caught by Brad Hodge, as Ryan ten Doeschate makes his way in.

OUT! Michael Lumb c Brad Hodge b Kyle Mills 17 (12)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 29/2 in 4 overs: Michael Lumb 9 (8), Marcus North 0 (1): GONE!!!! And it’s Taufeeq Umar this time, who departs for mere six due to an unfortunate run out. The Legends look in all sorts of trouble as MArcus North makes his way in.

OUT! Taufeeq Umar run out 6 (3)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Libra Legends 20/1 in 3 overs: Michael Lumb 5 (5), Taufeeq Umar 1 (1): GONE!!!! Jacques Kallis is the first man to go as he falls for mere 14 to Kyle Mills after being caught by Richard Levi, as Taufeeq Umar makes his way in.

OUT! Jacques Kallis c Richard Levi b Kyle Mills 14 (12)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 234/3 in 20 overs: Brad Hodge 46(19), Justin Kemp 3(7): Brilliant 18th over from Brad Hogg, only one comes from it. The next over by McKay concedes 16. Hodge is cutting lose. Butler to bowl the last over and the over see three sixes. Hodge indeed is one of the best to ever play the shortest format. Second ball sails over deep midwicket, fifth ball is a bad mis-field. It’s an easy catch at backward square-leg but it hits Taufeeq Umar’s palms and sails for another six. He finishes off with another six. Read the innings report here

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 197/3 in 18 overs: Brad Hodge 11(8), Justin Kemp 0(0): Sanga goes berserk in the 17th over. Ten Doeschate who bowled a maiden early on to Sanga has been taken to the cleaners here. Hodge gives Sanga the strike, and the second ball goes for a six. Sanga muscles it to back of square-leg. It’s followed with a four, then a wide. Now an outside edge for another boundary. Can Sangakkara get a century here? Now Sanga hits a six over backward point. Last ball of the over and he is caught by Butler at long-off. He doesn’t get a hundred but does enough to get the Arabians to a massive score. OUT! Kumar Sangakkara c Ian Butler b Ryan ten Doeschate 86 (43)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 162/2 in 15 overs: Kumar Sangakkara 59(35), Brad Hodge 5(3): SIX! Sanga scores his first six of the innigns, coming down the track and smashing the third ball of the 11th over over wide long-on for his first six of the innings! FOUR! Levi guides the ball down towards fine-leg for a boundary to move to 49. FIFTY for Richard Levi in 38 balls! Meanwhile, Sanga brings up the 100 for GA, as well as the 50-run stand in the subsequent deliveries! No-ball! Umar takes a brilliant running catch at wide long-on, but the effort goes in vain as the delivery is a front-foot no-ball. Sanga carves a four off the free-hit, and pulls towards midwicket for a six! Ends the nightmarish over by Ervine with a couple of runs. 24 runs come off it, with 52 runs coming off the last three. OUT! Levi attempts a cut off a wide-pitched delivery from Hogg, and carves out a catch for Kallis, who jumps up in the air to complete a high catch! SIX! Sanga follows up a boundary with a pull towards midwicket that brings up his fifty in just 33 deliveries. OUT! Richard Levi c Jacques Kallis b Brad Hogg 62(43)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 108/1 in 12 overs: Richard Levi 50(38), Kumar Sangakkara 26(24): SIX! Sanga scores his first six of the innigns, coming down the track and smashing the third ball of the 11th over over wide long-on for his first six of the innings! FOUR! Levi guides the ball down towards fine-leg for a boundary to move to 49. FIFTY for Richard Levi in 38 balls! Meanwhile, Sanga brings up the 100 for GA, as well as the 50-run stand in the subsequent deliveries!

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 80/1 in 10 overs: Richard Levi 41(33), Kumar Sangakkara 8(17): The runs have definitely dried up in the last couple of overs following Sehwag’s dismissal. Levi however, signals his intent of getting the flow back again with a boundary off the last ball of the seventh over! The next three runs fetch a total of 18 runs, as the likes of Tendo and Hogg are keeping it tight at the moment! Levi is in the 40s in the meantime, and a half-century will be the cherry on the cake for him!

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 54/1 in 6 overs: Richard Levi 24(20), Kumar Sangakkara 0(6): Tactful chinaman Brad Hogg comes into the attack for the fourth over, and Sehwag and Levi better get cautios against the wily spinner. Hogg returns into the attack for the fourth over, and does a brilliant job of restricting the run flow after a stupendous three overs so far, conceding only six off the over! SIX! Superbly flicked by Levi towards deep square-leg off a full delivery between middle and leg from Butler! Levi moves ahead of Sehwag at the moment in terms of runs scored. Meanwhile, the 50-run opening stand has been completed in the fifth over! OUT! Sehwag has finally been removed, getting caught by Brad Hogg at backward square-leg while getting a top-edge off an attempted pull! Sehwag’s dismissal brings the ever-consistent wicketkeeper-batsman Sangakkara to the crease. Meanwhile, Ryan ten Doeschate bowls a maiden for the sixth over! Superb work by Tendo, achieving a rarity in T20 cricket! OUT! Virender Sehwag c Brad Hogg b Ian Butler 21(11)

LIVE CRICKET SCORE: Gemini Arabians 11/0 in 2 overs: Virender Sehwag 18(7), Richard Levi 14(12): SIX! Sehwag gets off the mark in his typical style with a flick towards square-leg. FOUR! Sehwag is lighting up Dubai with his boundaries! Ian Butler comes into the attack for the next over, and concedes 13 runs, including five wides down the leg side! The batting side are off to a flying start right now, with Levi beginning to play the strokes towards the third over!

Teams:

Libra Legends: Taufeeq Umar, Michael Lumb, Jacques Kallis (c), Marcus North, Ryan ten Doeschate, Sean Ervine, Tim Ambrose, Simon Katich, Ian Butler, Andy McKay, Brad Hogg.

Gemini Arabians: Virender Sehwag (c), Kumar Sangakkara, Richard Levi, Jacques Rudolph, Brad Hodge, Justin Kemp, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Graham Onions, Saqlain Mushtaq, Kyle Mills, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Toss: Libra Legends skipper Jacques Kallis wins the toss and elects to bowl first.

Sourav Ganguly had been appointed as the skipper of the Libra Legends franchise, which boasts of world-class names such as Graeme Swann, Brad Hogg, Ryan ten Doeschate, Nicky Boje, etc. Ganguly, however, was initally ruled out of the opening fixture, and was later ruled out of the entire course of the tournament due to back spasms. Kallis, whose most recent stint in cricket was with the Sydney Thunder at the Big Bash League in Australia, was then picked as the leader of the unit in his stead.

Sehwag, who had announced his retirement from all forms of the game in October 2015, was selected to captain the Gemini Arabians side that is loaded with legendary names such as Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chanderpaul is the latest among the lot to retire from internal cricket, having done so barely a week ago. Most of the participating players were part of the Cricket All Stars tournament, which was the brainchild of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.

Squads:

Libra Legends: Jacques Kallis (c), Graeme Smith, Brad Hogg, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ajay Ratra, Chris Read, Sean Ervine, Shaun Tait, Ryan Sidebottom, Michael Lumb, Marcus North, Taufeeq Umar, Nicky Boje, Ian Butler.

Gemini Arabians: Virender Sehwag (c), Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kyle Mills, Saqlain Mushtaq, Jacques Rudolph, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Justin Kemp, Paul Harris, Brad Hodge, Richard Levi, Ashish Bagai, Graham Onions, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Saqib Ali.