Based on a fiery innings from former England batsman Kevin Pietersen,
England Legends picked up an easy win over Bangladesh Legends in their
inaugural Road Safety World Series match on Sunday. The rhythm for the seven-wicket
victory was largely set by Pietesen’s 42-run innings from 17 balls in Raipur,
as the innings, lined up by seven fours and a single sixer, led England to
victory.
Beginning comfortably, England’s total raced head, with Phil
Mustard scoring 27 off 16 balls. Fellow English batsman Darren Maddy, too, played
a good 32-off-32-balls innings, with England chasing down the 113-run target in
14 overs.
Also read: Road Safety Series: Fans react to India Legends’ reminiscence-worthy victory over Bangladesh Legends
Among Bangladesh’s bowlers, Alamgir Kabir and Mohammad
Rafique got one and two wickets respectively.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, got a good thrust early on
but were reduced to a score of 55/5. The scorecard was eventually taken forward
by Khaled Masud and Mushfiq Rahman, who scored 31 and 30 runs each.
Chris Tremlett got two wickets from the England bowling side,
as Monty Panesar, Chris Schoffield and Ryan Sidebottom picked up one each.
A moment in the match attracted attention from the fans on
social media, as Bangladesh’s Khaled Mashud, upon being dismissed through the
way of Leg Before Wicket by spinner Chris Schoffield, began walking back to the
pavilion after signalling to the on-field umpire that the ball was played on to
his pad after touching the bat.
Pietersen, at the moment, decided to call the batsman back
after a brief chat with his teammates, in what appeared to be a benefit-of-doubt
being given to the lower order batsman in absence of any Decision Review System
(DRS) being in place.