Twitter Reactions: Yusuf Pathan's heroics fall short as Southern Superstars clinch LLC 2024 title in super over

The Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar had hosted a total of six matches ahead of the all-important final of the Legends League Cricket 2024 between the Southern Super Stars and the Konark Suryas Odisha with five of them going in the favour of the team batting first. The one match which went in the favour of the team setting the target came right down to the wire with the team batting second falling shy by a solitary run. This would have been running in the mind of Irfan Pathan, and would have most probably been why he put the Super Stars in to bat first.

In fact, Irfan's decision made complete sense up until four overs into the game. Diwesh Pathania had Shreevats Goswami caught out on the very fourth delivery of the game with the Super Stars only managing to make 15 at the end of the first four overs. However, the next couple overs was when Hamilton Masakdza, along with Martin Guptill, went all guns blazing for their side to end up on a par-plus score of 55 after the powerplay was done with. Irfan did secure his first of the evening which had Ben Laughlin catching his second of the match. 

However, from thereon, it was pure carnage by Masakadza, who was ably supported by Pawan Negi, who turned on the screws on the Suryas. It was an anticlimax at with the end with top-order batter, Dilshan Munaweera, claiming three wickets while only conceding a single run to have the Super Stars end at 164/6 via a superb final over. It was a truly amazing batting performance by Masakadza who ended up scoring a run more than half of what his side ended up with (83 off 58).

Also Read: Yusuf Pathan inaugurates Cricket Academy of Pathans in Karnal, Haryana

The Suryas had in theory got off to a better start than their opposition in the first-half of the powerplay before Abdur Razzak and Hamid Hassan limited the damage which reduced the Suryas to 40 for the loss of three wickets. The run-chase seemed more improbable with the Suryas at a score of 64/4 during the halfway mark of their run-chase, with Jesse Ryder and Yusuf Pathan at the crease. A couple of wickets falling around Yusuf did not bother him one bit as he carried on his usual business at the other end. It was not until a 24-run over off Suboth Bhati in which Yusuf brought up a 26-ball fifty which turned the tide.

However, the very next over saw the balance tipped once again with Negi dismissing Navin Stewart and Pathania on successive deliveries. The most major twist came in the 19th over when Yusuf took Negi to the cleaners to end up with just six to get in the final over which was finally decided to be bowled by left-arm spinner, Chaturanga de Silva. A couple of extras saw the equation down to four needed in four balls. However, three deliveries played by Shahbaz Nadeem which read 0, 2, and 1 brought it down to a couple needed of one. Yusuf, who was huffing and puffing after playing a blinder of a knock, could not come back for the double which saw the game ending tied with scores level. Yusuf's blinder wasn't enough for the Suryas as the match headed towards a Super Over.

The Super Over saw the Pathan brothers walk out to bat. The very first delivery was a waist-high no-ball by Hassan which saw Yusuf deny the strike, and understandably so. After just a couple of runs coming from the next three deliveries, it was Yusuf who bludgeoned the ball over the cover regin for a massive maximum. However, he couldn't continue his plundering as he was trapped in front the very next delivery. Richard Levi struck the final delivery for four with the table-toppers requiring 14 to win it.

Pathania, coming after a long break to bowl, could not quite replicate his performance from the first innings as the very first couple of deliveries of the Super Stars' retort were battered by Martin Guptill on the on and off-side, respectively, for huge maximums. Yet another unexpected development followed when Guptill got his furniture disturbed. However, it was not meant to be for Pathan & Co. as Chirag Gandhi and Negi navigated the next two deliveries to hand the Super Stars a much-deserved title, regardless of them almost bottling it after having the opposition seven-down for 118 in the 17th over.  

Here's how X reacted to the final of LLC 2024