At the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, the local team Chhattisgarh Warriors defeated the Delhi Royals by a thrilling five wickets in the last over to commence the Legend 90 League.

In the 15 overs that were given, the Delhi Royals scored 172/7, but the Chhattisgarh Warriors reached the mark with two balls remaining. In lieu of Suresh Raina, Gurkeerat Singh Mann chose to bowl first and led the Chhattisgarh Warriors. Abhimanyu Mithun destroyed Sharad Lumba on the first ball of the game, giving the Delhi Royals a terrible start.

The Sri Lankan pair of Danushka Gunathilaka and Angelo Perera turned things around with a scorching 61-run partnership off just 28 balls after Delhi captain Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed early by Siddharth Kaul. Gunathilaka grabbed control when Perera was run out due to a mix-up, scoring 73 runs with nine fours and four sixes off only 33 balls.

The Royals scored a commanding 172/7 in 90 balls thanks to vital runs at the end from veteran New Zealander Ross Taylor, who finished undefeated at 39 off 24 balls.

Dhawan took the catch and celebrated with his famous “Thigh Five” after Lakhwinder Singh removed Vishal Kushwah in the third over, rocking the Chhattisgarh Warriors, who were chasing 173. The home team was battling at 40/2 after Parvinder Awana dismissed the dangerous Martin Guptill.

But the Warriors rallied thanks to a strong third-wicket partnership between Pawan Negi and captain Gurkeerat Singh Mann. Together, the two scored 106 runs, extending the chase. When Lakhwinder Singh removed Negi (51) with a spectacular catch by Praveen Gupta in the 13th over, the match took a dramatic turn, even though both batsmen had scored their half-centuries.

Jerome Taylor struck again in the next over, dismissing Peter Trego and Gurkeerat (64), raising the tension as 20 runs were required off the last eight balls.

Abhimanyu Mithun changed the tide of the match in the Warriors’ favor by hitting six, four, and another six off Praveen Gupta with two balls remaining in the last over, which had a 15-run target.