Twitter Reactions: Windies too hot to handle for star-studded World XI

The stage was all set for the one-off charity game between the World XI and the Windies side at the iconic venue of Lord’s. The match was played to raise the funds for the redevelopment of the stadia in the Caribbean Islands which were damaged due to hurricanes last year. Some of the biggest stars of the world cricket came under one roof to play for the World XI side in the marquee encounter.

However, much to the disappointment of the World XI cricket team fans, the team surrendered meekly in the match. Or, one could put it this way, the Windies team played like the champions of the shortest format of the game and showed why they are such an unbeatable force in T20 cricket.

Coming to the game, the World XI skipper Shahid Afridi won the toss and opted to bowl first. Windies openers, Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis walked in to bat. The destructive duo could have taken the game away from the World XI side but Gayle had an off day at the crease. He struggled for 28 balls to score 18 runs. Meanwhile, Evin Lewis looked in sublime form as he bludgeoned his way to 58 off just 26 deliveries with 5 fours and as many number of sixes.

It was Rashid Khan who provided the first breakthrough for World XI by dismissing Lewis in the 8th over. A couple of overs later, Shoaib Malik dismissed Chris Gayle as well. Andre Fletcher had an off day with the bat and was dismissed on 7 by Shahid Afridi. Despite the quick fall of wickets, the innings did not lose momentum.

Marlon Samuels hammered 43 off just 22 balls and Denesh Ramdin smashed an unbeaten 44 off 25 balls to give some serious impetus to the innings. Andre Russell also chipped in with three sixes towards the end to propel the Windies total to 199/4 in the stipulated 20 overs.

In the run chase, World XI could not get going with Andre Russell and Samuel Badree restricting them to 8/4 at one stage in the game. After the top order collapse, Thisara Perera held the fort for the World XI side and found brief support from Shoaib Malik. But the wickets kept falling as Perera scored a fighting 61 at the other end. The World XI were bundled out for a paltry 127 as they lost by 72 runs in the game.

Here is how the cricket world reacted to the match:

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