Gurkeerat Singh continued his brilliant run with the half century as India Masters maintained their perfect record in the International Masters League (IML) 2025 as they defeated England Masters on Tuesday by nine wickets at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Chasing a below-par 133 runs for victory, the opening stand of 75 runs by Gurkeerat Singh and Sachin Tendulkar in just seven overs to set the platform for India Masters’ second win of the tournament. Earlier, India Masters had beaten Sri Lanka Masters by four runs.
While Gurkeerat Singh played some of the elegant shots in the cricketing rulebook for his an unbeaten 35-ball 63, Sachin Tendulkar’s backfoot cuts, punches and glorious cover drives recalled back memories of his playing days.
The electric atmosphere at the stadium came to a brief standstill once Sachin Tendulkar made his way back, after being caught by Tim Ambrose off Chris Schofield. However, the arrival of the dangerous Yuvraj Singh changed the mood as he brought back the cheers, with a gigantic six over midwicket off the second ball he faced.
The southpaw seemed to be in a hurry to finish off things, smoking four boundaries to finish off on an unbeaten 14-ball 27, and more importantly stitched a 57-run undefeated stand with Gurkeerat Singh to take India Masters home in just 11.4 overs.
Dhawal Kulkarni’s 3/21 restricts visitors
Earlier, the third match of the inaugural IML 2025 served up a classic as Sachin Tendulkar’s India Masters invited Eoin Morgan’s England Masters to bat after electing to field in the high-stakes battle.
The decision seemed to have paid off for the hosts when Abhimanyu Mithun struck in the third over with the wicket of stumper Phil Mustard (8) before Dhawal Kulkarni joined the party by dismissing Eoin Morgan for 14, to leave the visitors in a spot of bother inside the powerplay.
Tim Ambrose (23) and Darren Maddy (25) took charge with a calculative 43-run stand for the third wicket, before left-arm spinner Pawan Negi struck twice in a span of two overs to keep India ahead in the contest.
Tim Bresnan struck a couple of boundaries during his 19-ball 16 before being packed off by Dhawal Kulkarni. With half the side back in the dugout for 89 runs, England needed some late order blitzkriegs but India’s disciplined bowling attack did not allow any freebies.
Towards the end, Chris Schofield’s undefeated 8-ball 18 gave the tourists the much-needed push. For India, Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers, returning impressive figures of 3/21, while Abhimanyu Mithun and Pawan Negi bagged two wickets apiece. Vinay Kumar picked up a wicket for the home side.
