The former West Indian batting legend Brian Lara’s Leo Lions registered their first victory in their very first match at MCL with a comfortable style. They beat Paul Collingwood’s leading Capricorn Commanders by 26 runs on Friday at Dubai (DSC).
After winning the toss, Lara decided to bat first. At first, the Leo’s top orders failed against the Capricorn bowlers. Lara only managed 8 runs in this match. But James Franklin and Johan Botha’s steady innings at the late helped the team to manage a respectable total of 156 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Botha remained unbeaten on 42 runs while Franklin made an important knock of 31 runs. Rory Kleinveldt and Jeetan Patel picked up 2 wickets each for Capricorn.
In reply, Capricorn started their innings in a good fashion. Opener Ashwell Prince and Andrew Symonds amassed a partnership of 63 runs for the first wicket. But once the first wicket fell, no other batsmen carried that innings. Prince scored highest runs – 34 – for the team while the second highest knock came from the extras (25 runs). Leo bowler Fidel Edwards grabbed four wickets while former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris took 2 wickets. Botha also picked up 1 wicket along with Heath Streak.
Botha was elected a man of the match award for his good performance in the entire match.
Playing XI:
Leo Lions- Hamish Marshall, Herschelle Gibbs, Robin Peterson, Brendan Taylor (wk), Brian Lara (C), James Franklin, Scott Styris, Johan Botha, Heath Streak, Darren Gough, Fidel Edwards.
Capricorn Commanders- Ashwell Prince, Andrew Symonds, Chamara Silva, Paul Collingwood (C), Abdul Razzaq, Rory Kleinveldt, Rikki Clarke, Geraint Jones (wk), Ben Laughlin, Upul Chandana, Jeetan Patel.
Brief Scores:
Leo Lions- 156/8 in 20 overs (J Botha 42*, J Franklin 31, R Kleinveldt 2/18)
Capricorn Commanders- 130/8 in 20 overs (A Prince 34, A Symonds 21, F Edwards 4/33)