India Champions vs Pakistan Champions LIVE Score, WCL Final: India win by 5 wickets, crowned inaugural champions

India Champions vs Pakistan Champions LIVE, WCL 2024 Final Latest Update: India Champions win the inaugural World Championship of Legends in the UK with a five-wicket victory over Pakistan Champions in the final in Birmingham. read more

Irfan Pathan and skipper Yuvraj Singh celebrate after guiding India to a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final of the inaugural World Championship of Legends in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Image credit: Screengrab/FanCode

Sohaib Maqsood joins Kamran Akmal at the centre, the pair hoping to rebuild after losing an early wicket. Maqsood gets off the mark right away with a single followed by a brace down the ground in Shukla’s second over. Anureet ends up conceding 12 in his second over, Akmal guiding the ball through extra cover for a four and Maqsood later collecting the first maximum of the innings, targeting the same region.

OUT! Maqsood departs after playing a shot too many, holing out to the fielder at deep square leg to depart for a 12-ball 21. He had smashed the ball inside-out towards extra cover for his second maximum earlier in the over that was immediately followed by a four towards deep midwicket. Tries to clear the fence in the final delivery of the over as well but doesn’t get enough power on the shot this time.

Shoaib Malik joins Kamran Akmal at the centre after Maqsood’s dismissal. Akmal, meanwhile, decides to shift gears in the first over of spin by smacking left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for three fours as Pakistan race to 55/2 at the end of the sixth over.

Vinay Kumar continues from his end while one spinner replaces another with Harbhajan Singh replacing Pawan Negi. Bhajji appeals for LBW against Malik that is turned down by the umpire. Malik dances down the track right after and smashes the ball over long on to collect his first six of the day.

OUT! Akmal perishes while attempting to smash the ball the ground. Only he didn’t get enough power on the short to clear long off off a Pawan Negi delivery that was slower than usual, resulting in a simple catch for Ambati Rayudu in front of the boundary rope. PAK 68/3

Negi’s dismissal of Akmal does help slow Pakistan’s scoring rate down as Younis Khan and Co reach 72/3 at the halfway stage of their innings. Just four singles and a wicket in the last two overs, with all-rounder Irfan Pathan bowling his first over in the 10th.

Drinks brought to the field at the end of the 10th over. Negi continues on the other side of the break and concedes five singles in his third over. BOWLED! Irfan Pathan with the breakthrough as he castles Pakistan skipper Younis Khan in his second over.

Pakistan have not collected a boundary in six overs now, and suddenly the prospect of going past 150 looks difficult even with six wickets in hand. Malik’s spent enough time at the crease by now and will be hoping to get a move on.

Misbah and Malik finally decide to shift gears with five overs left in the innings. Misbah ends the long boundary brought with a four at the start of Anureet’s final over, guiding the ball towards deep extra cover. Malik then goes inside out over deep exra cover off a full delivery from Vinay Kumar. 21 runs collected in the last two overs. Partnership currently worth 34.

Misbah-ul-Haq decides to retire hurt on 18 in the 17th over, and it remains to be seen whether he takes the field at the start of the Indian chase or not. Aamer Yamin joins Malik at the centre and smacks Anureet for a boundary in the second ball of the 18th over, only to slice the ball towards backward point in the following delivery to depart for 7. Shahid Afridi walks in at No 7 to a loud roar from the Edgbaston crowd, and gets off the mark with a single right away. Malik muscles the ball down the ground in the penultimate ball, and attempts to collect back-to-back sixes, only to get caught by Rayudu at deep midwicket after hitting the ball straight down his throat.

And helping Pakistan cross 150 is not ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi but Sohail Tanvir, who smashes two fours and a six to remain unbeaten on 19 off 9 balls. Shukla proves expensive in the final over, conceding 13 including a four and a six to finish wicketless after conceding 31 from four overs.

Excellent finish for Pakistan as they collect 23 runs in their last two overs to post 156/6 after skipper Younis Khan opted to bat!

Robin Uthappa walks out to commence India’s chase in the company of Ambati Rayudu. Meanwhile spin icon Saeed Ajmal has been brought in as an ‘Impact’ substitute for Misbah-ul-Haq, who had retired hurt earlier today. Aamer Yamin to bowl the first over.

FOUR! SIX! Rayudu doesn’t take long to tee off, collecting the first boundary of the innings by slicing a length ball from Yamin outside off for a four. He follows it up with an inside out lofted shot over long off for a maximum. 12 from the first over.

Left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir bowls from the other end. He starts off on a decent note, restricting Rayudu and Uthappa to a single in each of the first four deliveries before the seamer loses his focus and bowls three wides. Rayudu ends the over with a four down the ground, holding his pose after the lofted shot down the ground.

OUT! Aamer draws first blood for the Pakistanis as Uthappa flicks a length ball straight to Sohail Khan at deep backward square leg, departing for 10 as a result. IND 34/1

OUT! What a second over from Aamer Yamin, getting rid of Uthappa and Raina in a space of three deliveries! Raina opens his account with a boundary, making room for a drive through extra cover, but perishes in the next delivery while attempting to play a similar shot. 14 runs from the over, including a couple of boundaries, but gives Pakistan two wickets at the same time.

Tanvir continues and this time bowls out a tidy over, conceding a single in each delivery with Rayudu and new batter Gurkeerat happy to rotate the strike between themselves.

The fifty comes up for India inside five overs, with Rayudu collecting his third four in the second ball of Aamer’s third over. Despite losing a couple of wickets, India are going at more than 10-an-over at the moment, thanks primarily to Rayudu’s aggressive start. They need a big partnership or two from here.

Tidy start to Sohail Khan’s spell as he concedes four in his first over, including a brace to Gurkeerat in the third delivery of the over. India reach 55/2 at the end of the powerplay, their run-rate dropping below 10 now, though preserving wickets will be important for Rayudu and rest of the batters as well.

Rayudu’s doing a fine job managing the pressure at the moment by collecting the odd boundary. He does so in Shahid Afridi’s first over right after powerplay, guiding the ball straight down the ground. That is followed by a maximum to the former Chennai Super Kings batter off Sohai’s bowling in the following over, this time guiding the ball towards long leg. Gurkeerat collects a boundary off Sohail’s bowling later in the same over, which ends up costing Pakistan 14 runs. India need 79 to win off 72 with 8 wickets in hand.

The partnership between Rayudu and Gurkeerat goes past 50 in 41 balls right before timeout is signalled at the end of the 10th over. At the halfway stage of India’s chase, India need 68 to win off 60 balls with eight wickets in hand.

OUT! Ambati Rayudu perishes right after completing his half-century in 29 deliveries! Charges down the track against Saeed Ajmal but ends up playing something of a chip shot towards deep square-leg, where Sharjeel grabs a sitter to help the senior off-spinner break the solid third-wicket stand. IND 98/3 after 11.1

Skipper Yuvraj joins Gurkeerat at the centre following Rayudu’s soft dismissal, which gives Pakistan a glimmer of hope. Yuvraj and Gurkeerat collect a single each to help India reach 100/3 at the end of the 12th over, with the Men in Blue needing 57 to win off 48.

OUT! Another soft dismissal, and it’s another set batter who has to depart! Gurkeerat Mann decides to charge down the track against Shoaib Malik, only to send the ball high in the air with a thick top-edge that results in a simple catch for Kamran Akmal. IND 108/4

Gurkeerat had smashed Malik for a maximum at the start of the 13th over to nearly bring the required rate to run-a-ball, only to perish three balls later after playing a shot too many! Yusuf Pathan joins skipper Yuvraj at the centre, and the two focus on rotating the strike through singles in the following over, with five singles coming in Ajmal’s third over.

DROPPED! Chance put down near extra cover/mid off, and it’s Yuvraj who gets a reprieve while batting on 8! How costly will that prove for Pakistan? Meanwhile Yusuf had clobbered the ball over wide long on for a maximum in the 15th over off Malik’s bowling, and this time smashes Ajmal for a six and a four in consecutive balls right after Yuvraj’s drop, as if to rub salt on the wound. The hard-hitting Yusuf slog-swept the ball behind square for his second six in the penultimate ball of the 16th over before steering the ball behind square in the next delivery. India need 22 to win off 24 balls.

Nine runs collected in the last two overs, with Yuvraj and Yusuf collecting a double each, and India are left needing just 13 more to win off 12 balls with six wickets in hand. Thanks to Yusuf’s explosive hitting, India can afford to canter their way to the finish line from here.

OUT! Yusuf’s entertaining knock comes to an end and he departs right after smashing Wahab Riaz for a six down the ground to bring the equation down to single digits! He then perishes the very next ball, getting caught near deep square leg while attempting to finish the game in style. His brother will walk in next and hope to hit the winning runs. IND 150/5; need 7 to win off 10

Irfan Pathan carries on from where brother Yusuf left off with his blistering knock of 30 off 16 balls, hitting the winning runs in the first delivery of the final over as India chase down the target of 157 set by Pakistan with five wickets to spare.

ICYMI: Here’s how Irfan Pathan castled Younis Khan earlier today, one of the highlights of the final:

India Champions vs Pakistan Champions, World Championship of Legends 2024 Final TOSS: Pakistan win the toss, and skipper Younis Khan opts to bat.

Teams:

India Champions: Robin Uthappa(w), Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh(c), Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Pawan Negi, Vinay Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Shukla, Anureet Singh

Pakistan Champions: Kamran Akmal(w), Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan(c), Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Aamer Yamin, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan

India Champions vs Pakistan Champions, World Championship of Legends 2024 Final preview: The inaugural World Championship of Legends is set for a blockbuster conclusion with the Yuvraj Singh-led India Champions taking on Younis Khan’s Pakistan Champions in the final in Edgbaston on Saturday.

It will certainly feel like a repeat of the showdown between these two nations in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2007 given both Yuvraj and Younis along with several other players in both teams had featured in that tournament 17 years ago.

India had defeated Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling finale at the Bullring in Wanderers back then and Yuvraj and Co will be hoping for an encore when they face their biggest rivals on Saturday.

As for the inaugural edition of the World Championship of Legends, in which Birmingham and Northampton have hosted the matches so far with the former hosting the summit clash, Pakistan had handed India a comprehensive 68-run thrashing.

The Pakistani top-order of Kamran Akmal (77), Sharjeel Khan (72) and Sohaib Maqsood (51) slammed half-centuries to help the Men in Green post a formidable 243/4. Wahab Riaz (3/22) and Shoaib Malik (3/38) would then collect three wickets each as Pakistan restricted their fierce rivals to 175/9 in reply.