IML: India Masters secure clinical 9-wicket win over England

Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 26 (ANI): Nostalgia took over fans as the yesteryear cricketing stars assembled under the floodlights of a packed DY Patil Stadium to witness the India Masters convincingly defeated the England Masters by 9 wickets in the International Masters League 2025 affair on Tuesday.
India's hunt for 133 began with a vintage touch of the little master Sachin Tendulkar, slamming five boundaries and a six for his 34 off 21 deliveries to raise the tempo with a 75-run opening partnership in mere 7 overs with Gurkeerat Singh Mann, who was equally aggressive with an unbeaten 35-ball 63.
The electric atmosphere at the stadium came to a brief standstill once Sachin made his way back to the pavilion, after being caught by Tim Ambrose off Chris Schofield, with the crowd, roaring just moments ago, falling into stunned silence.
However, the arrival of the dangerous Yuvraj Singh changed the mood as he brought back the cheers, with a gigantic six over midwicket off the second ball he faced from the English leg-spinner. The southpaw seemed to be in a hurry to finish off things, smoking four boundaries to finish off on an unbeaten 14-ball 27, and more importantly, stitched a 57-run undefeated stand with Gurkeerat to take India Masters home in just 11.4 overs.
Earlier, the third match of the inaugural IML served up a classic as Sachin Tendulkar's India Masters invited Eoin Morgan's England Masters to bat after electing to field in the high-stakes battle.
The decision seemed to have paid off for the hosts when Abhimanyu Mithun struck in the third over with the wicket of stumper Phil Mustard (8) before Dhawal Kulkarni joined the party by dismissing Morgan for a 13-ball 14, to leave the visitors in a spot of bother inside the powerplay.
Tim Ambrose and Darren Maddy took charge of the proceedings after the early dismissals of the opening combo, and the duo put up a calculative 43-run stand for the third wicket to stabilise the innings before left-arm spinner Pawan Negi struck twice in a span of two overs to keep India ahead in the contest.
While Ambrose contributed with a 22-ball 23, Maddy came up with 25 off 24 balls before falling to the same bowler. Tim Bresnan struck a couple of boundaries during his 19-ball 16 before being packed off by Kulkarni.
With half the side back in the dugout for 89 runs, England needed some late-order blitzkrieg, but India's disciplined bowling attack did not allow any freebies, as Vinay Kumar got rid of the dangerous Dimitri Mascarenhas for single digits before Mithun and Kulkarni struck again to remove Chris Tremlett for an 8-ball 16, and Steven Finn (1). Towards the end, Chris Schofield's undefeated 8-ball 18 gave the tourists the much-needed push.
For India, Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers, returning impressive figures of 3/21, while Abhimanyu Mithun and Pawan Negi bagged two wickets apiece. Vinay Kumar picked up a wicket for the home side.
Brief Scores: England Masters 132/8 (Darren Maddy 25, Tim Ambrose 23; Dhawal Kulkarni 3/21, Pawan Negi 2/16) lost to India Masters 133/1 (Gurkeerat Singh Mann 63*, Sachin Tendulkar 34, Yuvraj Singh 27*) by 9 wickets. (ANI)