Match Details
Herschelle Gibbs | Player of the Match: "It took a bit of time for me to get going but nice to roll back the clock. Good to get some out of the middle of the bat and am happy with the innings. I have had really good games against India in the past and they bring the best out of me. KP was fantastic last night and luckily it was my turn tonight. Happy to get some runs under my belt."
It was always going to be a daunting task for the India
Maharajas to chase down 229. Wasim Jaffer departed in the second over and was
soon followed by Badrinath as they lost two wickets in quick succession. Yusuf
Pathan joined Naman Ojha and both started cutting loose as they hit some sensational
strokes. The Giants struggled to keep a check on the scoring rate as the
Maharajas were going at above 10 runs per over.
Yusuf was dismissed in the 13th over on 45 but Ojha
kept going strong from one end. He was removed by Sidebottom at the end of 15
overs. Ojha missed out on a well-deserved century by five runs. Irfan Pathan
arrived and started hitting the boundaries from the word go. He hit some lusty
bowls in the end and scored a quickfire fifty but lost his wicket in the last over with eight needed to win. Brett Lee with his tons of experience bowled an exceptional last over to defend the total.
Earlier, the Giants were put into bat and in-form Kevin Pietersen was dismissed in the second over. Phil Mustard and Herschelle Gibbs put in a solid second-wicket stand as the India Maharajas’ bowlers were hit all around the park. Gibbs turned back the clock as he smashed seven fours and as many sixes as he scored 89 off just 46 balls. Cameos from Kevin O’Brien and Jonty Rhodes powered them to 228. It went down to the wire in the end but the Giants held their nerves, in the end, to win the game by five runs and knock out the India Maharajas.