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Spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh grabbed three wickets each to lift the MCC to a convincing 112-run victory over an International XI in a tsunami appeal one-day match at Lord's on Tuesday.
Chasing 328 for victory, Brian Lara's International XI were on course to reach their target at the start of the 23rd over before the Indian duo sparked a collapse by claiming three wickets for seven runs.
Man-of-the-match Kumble had South African Graeme Smith stumped for 68 to make the score 168 for four, then Harbhajan joined in by removing Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2) and Chris Cairns (1).
Rahul Dravid became Harbhajan's third victim, leaving Chris Gayle (three for 27) to mop up the tail and skittle out Lara's side for 215 in 35 overs in the unofficial match played in aid of the December 26 tsunami victims.
"We didn't want to demean the day so it was important for us to keep the game genuine and give the spectators something to enjoy," said Stephen Fleming, who stepped in as MCC captain after Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out following elbow surgery.
Lara looked set to take the game to the wire after sharing a third-wicket stand of 75 from 49 balls with Smith.
His arrival at the crease got the crowd going as the West Indian took it upon himself to increase the run rate.
The left hander smashed a four and a straight six off Kumble before the Indian took revenge by removing Lara for 42.
Kumble finished with figures of three for 49 while Harbhajan picked up three for 32.
"Three hundred and twenty eight was always going to be a tough task but we didn't bat as well as we should have," said Lara.
"We would have loved to have claimed bragging rights but unfortunately that belongs to the other team."
Earlier, Andy Flower and Kumar Sangakkara launched a late assault to guide the MCC to 327 for seven in 50 overs.
RUN FLOW
Flower, coming in at number six, ripped the International team's bowling apart with 55 from 40 deliveries as Lara struggled to stem the MCC's run flow.
With Lara using 10 bowlers to try to slow the rate, Flower and Sangakkara unleashed an array of shots.
Having shared a brisk stand of 84 for the sixth wicket with Sangakkara, former Zimbabwe batsman Flower was dismissed by Australia leg spinner Shane Warne in the 48th over.
Sangakkara, who smashed 46 in 36 balls, soon became Warne's second victim after miscuing a shot to Lara.
Opener Fleming led from the front with a quickfire 62 while South African Jacques Kallis played a supporting role before falling for 62.
The tsunami left more than 220,000 people dead or missing and thousands homeless around the Indian Ocean area.
While an earlier fund-raising match in Melbourne raised more than $11 million, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) hopes to donate more than 485,000 pounds ($877,800) to relief projects from Tuesday's gate receipts.
"It's important for us to give something back and the important thing today was that 22 guys from around the world came together for a good cause," said Lara.
Scorecard:
MCC XI:
C.Gayle lbw Vaas 4
S. Fleming c Ntini b Cairns 62
S.Ganguly b Vaas 14
J. Kallis c Lara b Ntini 62
VVS Laxman c Dravid b Cairns 47
A. Flower c Ntini b Warne 55
K.Sangakkara c Lara b Warne 46
S. Pollock not out 9
Harbhajan Singh not out 1
Extras: (b-3, lb-3, w-19, nb-2) 27
Total: (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 327
Did not bat: A Kumble, Shoaib Akhtar.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-52, 3-115, 4-187, 5-220, 6-304, 7-317
Bowling: Vaas 7-2-19-2, Mohammad Sami 7-1-43-0 (1-w), Ntini 6-0-41-1, Cairns 7-0-50-2 (1-nb, 1-w), Warne 8-0-64-2 (2-w), Jayasuriya 4-0-18-0, Chanderpaul 2-0-15-0 (1-w), Smith 2-0-13-0, Sehwag 5-0-39-0 (1-w), Lara 2-0-19-0 (1-nb, 1-w).
International XI:
S. Jayasuriya c Harbhajan b Kumble 21
V. Sehwag lbw Pollock 5
G. Smith st Sangakkara b Kumble 68
B. Lara c Akhtar b Kumble 42
R. Dravid c sub b Harbhajan 19
S. Chanderpaul b Harbhajan 2
K. Cairns st Sangakkara b Harbhajan 1
S. Warne c sub b Gayle 17
C. Vaas not out 12
M. Sami st Sangakkara b Gayle 5
M. Ntini b Gayle 0
Extras: (b1, lb9, w6, nb7) 23
Total: (all out, 35 overs) 215
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-66, 3-141, 4-168, 5-171, 6-175, 7-188, 8-201, 9-215.
Bowling: Pollock 5-0-33-1; Akhtar 5-0-31-0; Kumble 8-0-49-3; Kallis 3-0-33-0; Harbhajan 9-2-32-3; Gayle 5-0-27-3.
