Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored the winning runs as Help for Heroes XI beat Rest of the World XI by four wickets in the inaugural T20 fundraiser, 'Cricket for Heroes', at the Kia Oval, in London, on Friday.
India's ODI captain scored 38 (off 22 balls) and hit a four for the winning runs as his side chased down 158, with three balls to spare.
Batting first, the Rest, led by Brendon McCullum, started with flourish, with former Australia opener Matthew Hayden (36) scoring briskly before being dismissed at 76 for two.
McCullum (10) and Mahela Jayawardene (48) then added crucial runs in the second half of the innings to post a competitive total (158 for six).
In reply, Virender Sehwag (30 off 25 balls) and current Director of England Cricket Andrew Strauss (26 off 17) put on a blistering opening partnership, scoring 63 in the powerplay and entertaining a 20,000-strong crowd in Surrey.
Strauss's knock raised 4,000 pounds (US $8,666) as a generous supporter sponsored him 1,000 pounds (US $2,166) per boundary.
Sehwag and Strauss fell before the Rest dismissed Damien Martyn (6) and Herschelle Gibbs (8) in the space of six deliveries.
The Heroes needed 82 to win off the final ten overs and Dhoni, in the company of Major Storm Green (British Army) (13) and Middlesex's David Malan (22) steered them home with three balls to spare.
Dhoni was named man of the match.
The match raised US $650,000 for a UK military charity, which caters to the sick, injured and seriously wounded British soldiers and their families.
The teams for the Thursday night’s extravaganza were selected by England legend Alan Lamb.
While World XI was coached by Gary Kirsten and managed by Sunil Gavaskar, Heroes XI was coached by Michael Holding and managed by David Gower.
"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.
