The first match of the Legends League Cricket 2023 saw a thrilling contest between Asia Lions and India Maharajas at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on Friday, March 10. The Lions started their tournament campaign with a fabulous victory as they defeated the Maharajas by nine runs.
Former Pakistan legendary cricketer Shahid Afridi is leading the Lions in the tournament and after the victory, Afridi celebrated it wholeheartedly and hugged his opponent Harbhajan Singh. However, after embracing Indian spinner, he was about to hug the lady umpire as well but he realized his mistake in time and embarrassingly shook hands with her.
Watch the video here:
Afridi hugs Harbhajan n was about to hug umpire but realized it's a lady so ends with a hand shake 😂🤣😭 pic.twitter.com/vBNcPGzSno
— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorze) March 10, 2023
Talking about the match, Asia Lions won the toss and opted to bat first but they didn’t get a great start as they lost their first two wickets on the score of just 18 runs. However, later, opener Upul Tharanga and middle-order batter Misbah-ul-Haq steadied the ship and stitched a brilliant 108-run partnership for the 3rd wicket.
Brilliant bowling performance by Sohail Tanvir
Misbah batted aggressively and kept the scoreboard ticking. He smashed 73 runs off 50 deliveries, a knock which was laced with 2 fours and 4 sixes. On the other hand, Tharanga was keeping the other end safe and scored 40 off 39 balls, including 2 sixes. Both helped the team achieve a fighting total of 165 runs.
Stuart Binny and Parvinder Awana both picked two wickets each.
The Maharajas also started badly as they lost their first wicket without even scoring any run. However, Gautam Gambhir, who is also leading the Maharajas, smashed a half-century. He scored 54 runs off 39 deliveries which included 7 fours. He also stitched a beautiful partnership of 50 runs with Murli Vijay, who was the second-leading run-scorer for the team in that innings, amassing 25 runs off 19 balls.
However, no other batter could make a substantial contribution and Maharajas, eventually, lost the match by 9 runs. Former Pakistan fast bowler, Sohail Tanvir bowled brilliantly and picked up 3 wickets while conceding only 27 runs in 4 overs.
Here’s how fans reacted to Afridi’s antics:
@TheGeriya would have atleast side hugged the umpire.
— Chirag Lakhiani (@chirag_lakhiani) March 11, 2023
Hahahah he is so cute 🥰
— Laiba Sheikh (@laibasheikhsoni) March 10, 2023
Haath milaya he Kahan bhae…just respect ke liye little bit touch kiya….love this man ❤️
— 𝖲𝗁𝖺𝗁𝗂𝖽 || HBD LALA 🎂♥️ || (@Shahid_AFRIDIAN) March 10, 2023
Hands barely touched on handshake too lol
— khuram (@thekhurram888) March 10, 2023
Inko sab Kashmir he lagata hey bus le lena hey 😂 halwa hey kya 😂😂😂
— Avanish Singh (@Ak87singh0) March 11, 2023
Kudos to him for being able to hide his embarrassment while still looking like a gentleman😂
— Kanishk (@Kanishk20050584) March 11, 2023
yaar current tu nahi laga, kar lete
— shahab (@shahab172) March 10, 2023
aik khabar ye bhi aayi hai ke lala ne aik dant nikalwa ke wahan permanent naswar lagwa li har time masti mai rehte hain
— nma (@namaloomafraaad) March 10, 2023
