Shane Warne, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting and Shoaib Akhtar rolled back the years in some style as the 1st T20 of the Cricket All Stars got off to a roaring start.
Sachin's Blasters were put into bat after Warne won the toss at the Citi Field in New York, and it did not seem like a great decision as Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar made merry early on, tonking those boundaries, most of them sixes, at will.
Sehwag was obviously the aggressor, hitting sixes with more regularity than singles, as the eight-hander took full toll of the short boundaries on this home ground of the New York Mets.
A sizeable crowd at the Citi Field were treated to some great shots from Viru, but from the eighth over onwards it was all the Warne's Warriors, as the bowling team took complete control.
Tendulkar was dismissed by his great friend and rival Warne, with Jacques Kallis taking a great catch, and after Sehwag was castled by the excellent Daniel Vettori next ball, the blast went from Sachin's Blasters.
It was such a treat to watch Warne, the master of spin bowling show he hasn't lost that magic of his at all, with the drift, spin and accuracy very much visible.
His and Vettori's spells of 4-0-20-3 and 4-0-13-1 was the game-changer, as Sachin's Blasters were held for just 140/8 in their 20 overs.
The chase was led by Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting with the duo putting on 80 runs together to take Warne's Warriors to the brink of victory. Sangakkara fell to the excellent and still speedy Akhtar with Warne's Warriors needing another 39 runs in 7.3 overs, and even if Andrew Symonds also walked back without worrying the scorers too much, Ponting saw his team through, with a little help from Jonty Rhodes.
Watch all the highlights of the first innings HERE and HERE and HERE
