LOS ANGELES: Shane Warne’s Warriors pulled off the 3-0 series sweep over Sachin Tendulkar’s Blasters with an exhilarating four-wicket win at Dodger Stadium on November 14.
For a stadium filled with fans hoping to see some of their sporting heroes, the Cricket All-Stars series provided the fans with an unforgettable memory. More so than the actual play on the pitch, fans and media alike were able to take in some of the greatest players in a venue that’s never before hosted the sport.
Indian stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar (56) and Sourav Ganguly (50) showed glimpses of the past as they hit half-centuries to help their team post a challenging 219 for five in 20 overs. However, the Warriors overhauled the target with just one ball to spare, scoring 224 for six, riding on some spectacular innings by Kumar Sangakkara (42), Ricky Ponting (43) and Jacques Kallis (47).
Skipper Warne then came out onto the middle and finished the Hollywood ending with a six off his first ball when his side needed two to win off two balls, with Ponting unbeaten on the other end at 43.
Prior to the final match in Los Angeles, two others took place – November 7 at New York’s Citi Field and November 11 at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. “The whole idea of Cricket All Stars is to get as many people from different countries to enjoy it, to globalize cricket,” Tendulkar said. The Indian batting legend felt that the atmosphere was as electrifying and history was created in US by having 100,000 fans in all 3 games put together.
New York-based sports marketing company Leverage Agency joined with United Sports Associates to organize the series. The icons spent a day before all three matches interacting with fans and young cricketers. By some estimates, there are about 200,000 cricket players in the United States, playing in more than 150 leagues. Most of these players are expats who continue to follow their passion.
Capturing the attention of the average American sports fan remains cricket’s biggest challenge, and the star power of Cricket All Stars created a big buzz for the sport.
Top tier sponsors of the event were Citi, MasterCard, PepsiCo, State Farm, Azur Global, Sling TV, Oxigen, Lycamobile, Etihad and Uber.
India Post News Service
