Irfan's 61* goes in vain as England Legends beat India Legends by 6 runs

Cricket Desk: England Legends became the first team to beat India Legends in the Road Safety World Series on Tuesday, winning Match 9 by 6 runs after riding on the back of a super innings from captain Kevin Pietersen in Raipur.

Irfan Pathan's valiant 62 not out went in vain as India failed to chase down the target of 189 to lose their first match of the competition.

Irfan held fort at one end even as India kept losing wickets at regular intervals during the chase and eventually ran out of partners with the hosts reaching 182 for 7 in 20 overs.

"It was incredible hitting towards the end, but we lost far too many wickets in the first six and that was critical. Even last March when we played SL Irfan played a crucial knock - quite a joy to watch.

"KP, the way he batted, didn't feel like he had stopped playing. He set the tone for them and continued batting till the 13th over. Incredible. You can plan in this format, but then leave it to the bowler, and such is the case with the batsman too, and however much you plan, sometimes things don't work," Tendulkar said after the match.

Off-spinner Monty Panesar was the pick of the bowlers for England with 3 wickets for 15 runs from his 4 overs. James Tredwell bagged a couple while Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom picked a wicket each for the visitors.

England had earlier rode on Kevin Pietersen's 75 to post 188 for 7 on the board after being put into bat by India captain Sachin Tendulkar.

"It's always nice to bat in India. These wickets are spectacular, the seamers are getting it to go, there's bounce, and it's just a really pure wicket.

"The crowd were fantastic. The noise really started when Irfan and Gony were hitting it in the end, and Tremlett and Sidebottom were forced by me to bowl the last two. The wickets are so good, the ball skids through, spins but doesn't grip so you can hit through the line, so I doff my hat to the groundsmen," Pietersen said after being adjudged Player of the Match.

India Legends still hold the top spot on the table with 12 points from 4 games ahead of Sri Lanka (12 pts), England (8 pts) and South Africa (4 pts). Australia, West Indies and Bangladesh are yet to win a match in this competition.