Mohammed Kaif-led India Maharajas suffered their second successive defeat in the ongoing Legends League Cricket 2022 in Muscat. The Maharajas, who started off with a big win against Asia Lions, lost by 36 runs to the Misbah-ul-Haq-led side on Monday (January 24). The Asia Lions now have two wins in three games and look favourite to reach the finals.


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The Lions put up a solid 193/4 on the board after batting first, with half-centuries from for Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga and former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan. The Lions were off to a dismal start as former India and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Stuart Binny dismissed former Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan off the first ball of the innings while fellow Lankan opener Romesh Kaluwitharana (13) departing soon after.


However, a solid 78-run partnership between Tharanga and former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf put the side back on track. Tharanga notched up his third successive fifty while Yousuf (26) fell to former India and Mumbai pacer Aavishkar Salvi after stabilising the innings.



Tharanga then joined forces with Afghan, and the duo took the Maharajas bowling apart. Tharanga struck seven fours and four sixes before eventually falling to Salvi for 72 off 45 balls. Afghan stole Tharanga’s thunder as he remained unbeaten on 69 off just 29 balls, smashing seven sixes and four fours during his knock.


In reply, the Maharajas never got going as they lost the in-form Naman Ojha (4) to Shoaib Akhtar in the third over of the chase. While Wasim Jaffer tried to keep the scoreboard ticking, before eventually holing out on 35 off 25 balls. Yusuf Pathan (21) and Stuart Binny (25) got off to starts but failed to capitalise, while an injured skipper Kaif’s stop-start innings did little to elevate the chase.


Seamer Manpreet Gony (35 n.o.) came in with a couple of lusty blows towards the end, but the target seemed well beside the grasp of the lower-order as India just squeezed past 150 in the chase.


The Indian side will need to win their last league encounter against the World Giants on Wednesday (January 26) if they hope to reach the final.


Brief Scores: Asia Lions 193/4 in 20 overs (Upul Tharanga 72, Asghar Afghan 69 n.o.; Amit Bhandari 2/41) lost to India Maharajas 157/8 in 20 overs (Manpreet Gony 35 not out, Wasim Jaffer 35; Nuwan Kulasekera 2/14) by 36 runs