Tsunami match raises millions
2005-01-10 13:22
Melbourne - Cricket provided the spectacle and the fundraising vehicle as Ricky Ponting's World XI beat an Asian XI by 112 runs on Monday in a benefit match that generated A$14.6m for the tsunami disaster relief fund.
Ponting stroked 115, New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns smashed 69 off 47 balls and West Indian Brian Lara hit 52 as the World XI reached 344 for eight against an Asian attack featuring returning Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan and India's legspinner Anil Kumble.
Muralitharan, taking time out from his relief work in Sri Lanka and playing his first match since a shoulder operation in August, was the best of Asia's bowlers with 3-59 in 10 overs.
Shane Warne, coming out of retirement from limited-overs cricket for the match, took a wicket with his second ball to remove Virender Sehwag (45) and finished with 2-27 to raucous cheers from his 70 101-strong home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
India's Rahul Dravid topscored for the Asian lineup with an unbeaten 75 in a total of 232.
New Zealand offspinner Daniel Vettori dismissed Asian XI captain Sourav Ganguly (22) and added the wickets of Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq (11) and Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas to return 3-58 from 10 overs.
All tickets available to the public were sold out for the day-night match. TV broadcasters donated and helped collect millions of dollars in appeals running concurrently with the match.
Australian captain Ponting won the toss and elected to bat.
After Indian paceman Zaheer Khan (2-46) removed Chris Gayle (1) and Adam Gilchrist (24) to make the total 50 for two, Ponting combined with Lara in a 122-run partnership and Cairns in a 91-run stand that helped the World XI post the biggest total in a limited-overs international at the MCG.
Ponting hit consecutive sixes off Kumble in an over that cost the Asian team 21 runs before he was stumped by Kumar Sangakkara advancing down the wicket at the Indian spinner. Kumble finished with 2-73 from 10 overs.
His 102-ball innings contained eight boundaries and three sixes, while Cairns clubbed six boundaries and two sixes in 56 minutes at the crease before he was stumped by Sangakkara off Muralitharan's bowling.
Muralitharan, who was infamously called seven times for chucking at the MCG in 1995, returned to a hero's welcome, gaining loud cheers when he bowled and walked out to bat.
Sri Lanka and India were two of the hardest hit countries in the December 26 tsunami, which has killed more than 150 000 people and left millions homeless.
- SAPA