Dhoni stars in UK-based charity match

India’s limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed the winning runs for his side Heroes XI in the inaugural T20 match fundraiser, ‘Cricket for Heroes’, against Rest of the World XI at The Kia Oval here.

The match raised 650,000 US Dollars for a UK military charity, which caters to the sick, injured and seriously wounded British soldiers and their families, as the Andrew Strauss-led Heroes XI beat the ROW XI by four wickets.

The match saw big names from the world of cricket as Dhoni combined with Virender Sehwag to provide wholesome entertainment to the 20,000 packed crowd in Surrey.

Crowds were thrilled by the likes of Mahela Jayawardene, Brendon McCullum, Matthew Hayden and former England captain Strauss, who rolled back the years with 26 off 17 balls an innings that raised 4,000 Pounds (8,666 USD) by itself after a generous supporter sponsored him 1,000 Pounds (2,166 USD) per boundary.

Teams for the Thursday night extravaganza were selected by England legend Alan Lamb and the sides managed by no less than Michael Holding, David Gower, Sunil Gavaskar and Gary Kirsten.

Big-hitting Kiwi McCullum captained the Rest of the World XI and wore a GoPro for a large part of his time at the crease watching from the other end as Mahela produced a master class in T20 batting.

“This was a fantastic end-of-season party, attended by a galaxy of cricketing stars and 20,000 happy cricket fans,” said Surrey CCC Chief Executive Richard Gould.