Caribbean Superstars win $20 million by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Stanford Super Stars v England
Player:	SJ Benn, SJ Harmison, ADS Fletcher, CH Gayle, PD Collingwood, KP Pietersen, A Flintoff
Event:	Stanford Super Series 2008/09

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DateLine: 2nd November 2008

 

It was an anticlimax.The final of the Stanford 20/20 was a damp squib.A finale so one sided for a $20 million bounty was a huge disappointment. But the crowd would have enjoyed their players getting $20 million. But they would have definitely wanted a contest and there was none to be seen.

England won the toss and elected to bat on a slow sluggish pitch. Caribbean superstars were up for it. Their bowlers hit the right areas and got wickets at regular intervals. Sammy,Taylor,Pollard, Benn got couple of wickets each. England as a team never got going and were too anxious about winning the prize money. Pieteson, Flintoff, Collingwood all went cheaply. Samit Patel was the top scorer. He made 22. Benn was the most successful bowler with 3 wickets.England were bowled out for their lowest ever total of 99 in a 20/20 game. And what a time to do it.

Caribbean Superstars chased down the target in blazing fashion. Their captain Chris Gayle went like a tornado hitting five sixes and five fours in his knock of 65 of 45 balls. The one over from Harmison which went for 22 changed the game. His partner Fletcher on the other hand remained unbeaten on 32 as both of them raced to the target with 7 overs to spare.

On the whole the tournament was a disappointment. The final was just not worthy enough after such a huge hype. The tournament would have been much better off with a good final. But the Caribbeans would not mind it one bit. Their team won $20 million. And that is a huge sum of money.