MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag star for Help of Heroes’ victory over Rest of the World

The Help of Heroes, a UK military charity, raised the money as some of the game’s biggest stars took to the historic venue for an entertaining evening sporting saga.

Along with highly popular Indian stars MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, who entertained the spectators with their stroke play on the way to their 22 ball 38 and 25 ball 30, Help of Heroes captain Andrew Strauss thrilled the packed stadium with a 17 ball 26. As their contribution earned a four victory over the Rest of World XI $8,666 raised. A Generous supporter also sponsored Strauss’s every boundary for $2,166.

The Rest of the World batting first scored 158 for 6. Matthew Hayden and Mahela Jayawardene scored 34 and 48 respectively to help Rest of World to put a competitive total on board. The Help of Heros chased down the target with three balls remaining as MS Dhoni hit the winning stroke. Among the bowlers, Daniel Vettori stars for The Rest of World as he finished his four-over quota with three wickets conceding just 28 runs.

Among the great batsmen, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Brian Lara failed to contribute many runs for their team the Rest of The World. This match has also seen old heroes like Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Scot Styris, Mathew Hoggard, Darren Gaugh, Simon Jones.

Among the well known of contemporary faces Shapoor Zadran of Afghanistan, Tim Southee of New Zealand also participated in the match. Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann said the occasion was a winner on all fronts.

“I loved it. Having been out of the game for a couple of years, you miss the dressing room, the crowd, the thrill of competing,” Swann said. “So to come here for such a magnificent cause, raising so much money, the whole thing was brilliant. “The competitive edge was still there, and that was good – it made it a much better spectacle than an exhibition game where no-one really cared about who won or lost.

“We wanted to win that game and we did, which was very pleasing.” Teams for the match were selected by former England cricketer Alan Lamb and the sides managed by greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding, avid Gower, Sunil Gavaskar and Gary Kirsten.

Teams for the night were selected by England legend Alan Lamb and the sides managed by no less than Michael Holding, David Gower, Sunil Gavaskar and Gary Kirsten. Big-hitting Kiwi Brendon McCullum captained the Rest of the World XI and wore a GoPro for a large part of his time at the crease – watching from the other end as Mahela Jayawardene produced a master class in T20 batting.

Help For Heroes Scorecard :-

Players	Bowlers	R	B	4’s	6’s	SR
AJ Strauss	c DPMD Jayawardene b SB Styris	26	17	4	0	152.94
V Sehwag	b DL Vettori	30	25	4	0	120.00
HH Gibbs	c Sub. (Simon Morlon) b A Razzaq	8	9	1	0	88.89
DR Martyn	c SB Styris b DL Vettori	6	10	0	0	60.00
MS Dhoni	not out	38	22	4	1	172.73
Major Green	c SB Styris b DL Vettori	13	21	2	0	61.90
DJ Malan	c GC Smith b SB Styris	22	13	3	0	169.23
A Mahmood	not out	0	0	0	0	0.00

Extras (leg byes 3, wides 13) 16

Total (wickets 6, 19.3 overs) 159 Live 8.15 RPO

Bowlers	O	R	W	EC	AV	EX
TG Southee	4	50	0	12.50	–	8
Shapoor Zadran	4	30	0	7.50	–	0
A Razzaq	4	24	1	6.00	24.00	0
DL Vettori	4	28	3	7.00	9.33	5
SB Styris	3.3	24	2	6.86	12.00	0

ROW: – 158/6 IN 20 OVERS

Rest Of World XI 1st Inning Scorecard

Player	Wicket	R	B	4’s	6’s	SR
ML Hayden	st †MS Dhoni b GP Swann	34	33	3	1	103.03
GC Smith	b D Gough	8	9	2	0	88.89
BC Lara	c AJ Strauss b A Mahmood	15	21	1	0	71.43
DPMD Jayawardene	b D Gough	48	28	5	1	171.43
BB McCullum	c †MS Dhoni b A Mahmood	10	12	0	0	83.33
SB Styris	not out	4	5	0	0	80.00
Corporal Wray	not out	2	4	0	0	50.00