Cricket fans across the globe celebrated a prestigious moment when many legends of the game reunited for a good cause. It was a charity match held in Australia to raise funds for the Bushfire victims. Australia greats Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist came up with t꧒heir XI, which included legends of the game at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Sunday.
Down the track first ball!
JL means business
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
Chasing a target of 105, Gilchrist XI got off to a flier as openers Shane🐼 Watson, and skipper Gilchrist put on 49 runs in the first three overs. However, in the fourth over, Luke Hodge dismissed Gilchrist (17), and Watson got retired.
The legendary Courtney Walsh has the rock!
Donate to the here:
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
Then came one of India’s most exceptional all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, he joined another Aussie veteran Brad Hodge who replaced Watson. Though, they couldn’t leave any impact in the game as pacer Brett Lee soon sent Brad Hodge (0) and Yuvraj (2) back to the pavilion.
Ricky Ponting wanted a piece of Courtney Walsh's moon-ball!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
Andrew Symonds tried his best with 29 off 13 balls, but it wasn’t enough to get his team over the finish line, and In the end, Ponting XI managed to win the contest by one run.
Earlier, after put in to bat first, Ponting XI got off to a bad start as Justin Lang🅠er (6) was sent back to the pavilion with just 15 runs on the board.
OUT ⬅ RT Ponting
IN ➡ BC Lara— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
Left-hander Matthew Hayden and captain Ponting put on 29 runs 💮for the second wicket, but Y🌠uvraj exhibited his golden arm bowling as he provided the breakthrough for the Gilchrist XI after the Punjab-born dismissed Hayden (16) in the fifth over.
Six over mid-off, if you don't mind!
And Brian Lara retires on 30 👏
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
Soon after, Ponting retired at 26 and then came one of the greatest batsmen, Brian Lara. The left-handed genius played a quickfire knock of 11-balls 30 runs to take Ponting XI’s score at 104/5 in the allotted 10 overs.
No respect for the great Wasim Akram! Shane﷽🤪 Watson launches it!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
During the mid-innings break, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar padded up to face Australian women cricketer, Ellyse Perry, a🤡fter the former accepted the challenge thrown by Perry on♌ social media.
Tendulkar, who was also the coach of Ponting XI, came to the cricket field after five years. The 46-year-old got off the mark with a boundary. Apart from Perry, Annabel Sutherland also go🎐t an ༒opportunity to bowl to Tendulkar.
Sachin is off the mark with a boundary!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
After the conclusion, Cricket Australia confirmed that the Bushfire charity cricket match managed to ra💫ise over USD 7.7 million for the communities devastated by the fires.
UPDATE: Thanks to the incredible generosity from Australia and around the globe, we've raised over $7.7 million to support communities and families impacted by the recent bushfires.
There's still time to donate & get involved I 💛💚
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus)
