October 07 Monday 2002
Wasim Akram steers Rest of World to indoor cricket victory

CARDIFF: The Rest of the World won the second 'Power Cricket' match and the series at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium after Wasim Akram kept his cool in a nail-biting final over. Britain's betting pair Robert Key and Nasser Hussain were set a target of 18 off the final over as they chased 141 to win. 

Hussain smashed a six off Akram but bowled well to restrict Britain to 138-8. With the Rest of the World winning the first match on Friday, Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda de Silva gave them a solid base for victory in this second match with 61 runs as they reached 142-7 from their first 15 overs. 

The Rest picked up the 50,000 pounds (78,500 dollars) 'winner takes all' prize money. Despite sparse crowds in the 74,000-seater stadium which is more used to staging rugby union internationals, the first 'Power Cricket' matches played in Britain received an enthusiastic response from the players. "Everybody was excited and I enjoyed every bit of it," said Akram. 

Power Cricket differs from conventional forms of the game in several ways. A match consists of two 15-over innings per side and batsmen also score bonus runs when they hit the ball into different tiers of the stadium's stands. A hit straight into the lower tier was a six but balls landing directly in the middle section were classed as an eight with those going into the top deck were worth 10 runs.