LLC 2022, Match 2 Review: Yusuf Pathan, Fidel Edwards shine in Bhilwara Kings' victory over Manipal Tigers

Bhilwara Kings defeated Manipal Tigers by three wickets at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow in the second game of Legends League Cricket 2022. Kings' captain Irfan Pathan won the toss and decided to bowl first and the decision proved good as Irfan dismissed Tigers' opener Ravikant Shukla in the first over. West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards then dismissed Corey Anderson for a golden duck in the next over to give his team a flying start.

Things got worse for the Tigers in the fourth over with the loss of two more wickets. Edwards removed both Swapnil Asnodkar and Ricardo Powell to put KIngs in firm control of the match. Kaif continued to score from the other end and scored a brilliant fifty. He smashed 73 runs off 59 balls to put a respectable 153/7 total on the scoreboard, before caught out. For the Kings, Edwards took the most four wickets while conceding 30 runs.

Yusuf Pathan shines with the bat

While chasing a 154-run target, Bhilwara Kings lost both of their openers in the first two overs. Naman Ojha was lbw out by Ryan Sidebottom on six runs in the first over and William Porterfield was bowled out by Zimbabwe pacer Chris Mpofu on four runs in the next over. Nick Compton and Tanmay Srivastava then formed a partnership for the third wicket to remain in the chase.

Manipal's captain Harbhajan Singh dismissed Compton for 18 in the ninth over and Sidebottom removed Srivastava fir 28 runs in the next over to get their side back in the game. However, the in-form Yusuf Pathan and Rajesh Bishnoi balanced Bhilwara's innings in the middle overs. The legendary Sri Lankan spin ace Muttiah Muralitharan bowled out Bishnoi in the 15th over and Kings were struggling on 100/5.

That is when the Pathan brothers joined hands and took the team closer to the target but Mpofu dismissed Irfan for 15 off 13 in the 18th over. Kings needed 23 runs in the last two overs with Yusuf playing on 34 runs. He scored four and six on the first two deliveries of the 19th over before getting caught out on the third delivery by Sidebottom. But West Indies pacer Tino Best smashed 14 runs in the first four balls of the last over to guide Bhilwara Kings to a crucial three-wicket win with two balls remaining.