Over 22,000 people flocked to Lord’s yesterday to watch the British Asian Challenge, The British Asian Trust’s annual cricketing event to raise funds for the Trust’s charities. The match was the first Twenty20 match to be played by an Indian Premier League (IPL) team in England and also marked what is probably the last time that cricket legend Shane Warne will play at Lord’s.
Despite a slightly slow start on account of the rain, the match saw IPL team Rajasthan Royals storm to victory by 42 runs, scoring an impressive 162 with a loss of only 5 wickets in their twenty overs. Sohail Tanveer, Dimitri Mascarenhas and captain, Shane Warne put the Panthers’ hopes of a win to bed with some impressive bowling. Dimitri Mascarenhas, later named Man of the Match, not only scored 32 runs, but also took the wickets of Dexter and Shah.
As well as the very best cricket, the event also brought the ‘glamour of Bollywood’ to the Home of Cricket as Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, owner of the Rajasthan Royals, cheered her team on. Celebrating British Asian culture and representing the vibrant society that we live in, dazzling cultural entertainment was brought out to Lord’s to entertain the crowds. Artists including Navin Kundra, Apache Indian, Escala, Stero Nation and dancers from Honey’s Dance Academy and Dhol Foundation provided the entertainment. Rajan Singh, Trustee and Executive Vice President of Sony International hosted the event and encouraged the crowds to support the activties of the Trust.
The match was followed by an exclusive and glamorous reception at the Nursery Pavillion at Lord’s for all supporters of The Trust and the cricketing stars. The highlight of the evening was Shilpa Shetty and Simon Hughes hosting an intimate question and answer session with players from both teams. Signed merchandise donated by both teams were sold at the event to raise funds for the charity.
The event was a great success in raising both raising funds and the profile of the Trust among the British Asian community.
Sponsors of this event included Sony, PepsiCo, Whyte and Mackay, Kingfisher and Tamarind.
Manoj Badale, Chairman of the Rajasthan Royals, and Chairman of The British Asian Trust said: “This was a landmark match for so many reasons. For The British Asian Trust, the funds raised from the match will change people’s lives so dramatically in the Subcontinent and I can’t thank everyone enough for their amazing support – the players, the entertainment, Lord’s and the 22,000 fans that came to cheer the teams on.”
The next day, HRH The Prince of Wales hosted a tea party for the cricketers from both teams and the organisers at Lords to thank them for their contribution to the event.
