Lahore Badshahs go one up in ICL finals by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Hyderabad Heroes v Lahore Badshahs
Player:	Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, JP Maher, Naved-ul-Hasan
Event:	ICL 20s Indian Championship 2008/09

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DateLine: 14th November 2008

 

The first of the best-of-three finals of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) this year saw the Lahore Badshahs snatch away a rather close, four-wicket win over the Hyderabad Heroes, with only five deliveries to spare.

 

Lahore won the toss and elected to field first. Jimmy Maher and I. Khaleel opened the Hyderabadi inning and got them off to reasonable start, as the duo added 49 for the first wicket off almost six overs. However, it was the second wicket stand between Abdul Razzaq and Maher that threatened to take the game away from the Lahore clutches. Razzaq was particularly severe on any of the quick bowlers, while his partner kept chipping away at the singles.

 

It was Maher’s wicket at 138 that brought the scoring to a rather abrupt halt, as only 32 runs came off the last 27 deliveries after his dismissal. Razzaq was the top-scorer with a 46-ball 69, but got into a verbal battle with Naved-ul-Hasan immediately after his dismissal that looked quite ugly from the by-side. In the end, the Heroes got to 170/5 in the twenty overs.

 

In reply, the Badshahs got off to a quick-fire start due to Imran Nazir’s inning of 26 that came off only 10 deliveries. His wicket did not stem the flow of runs, nor did any of the other wickets, as the batting revolved around the other Imran, Farhat. The run-rate was never a problem, as Farhat kept disposing the bowlers all over the park. However, Farhat’s wicket (65 off 38) at 127 brought three more wickets and all of a sudden, 29 were needed off 28 deliveries.

 

Azhar Mahmood then coolly guided his team to a win without any further qualms and a 1-0 lead.

 

Farhat won the man-of-the-match award for his match winning fifty.

 

The second match would be played on the 15th of November.