AHMEDABAD: Lahore Badshahs posted a four-wicket win in the first final of the Indian Cricket League’s 20s tournament at the Sardar Patel Stadium. Chasing 171, the opening pair of Imran Farhat and Imran Nazir blasted their way to 28 in two overs.
However, Nazir was the first to go. Nazir played a reckless shot in the third over. Abdul Razzaq put some thought behind this dismissal. He called for a physio in the third over. It seemed to have disturbed the concentration of Nazir. The dashing opener got out for 26 off just 10 balls, top-edging the delivery to Justin Kemp at mid-on.
Naved-ul Hasan joined Farhat, who was in a murderous mood. Farhat didn’t let the run-rate fall below twelve an over. Skipper Chris Harris, sensing that the game was slipping though his fingers, brought on left-arm spinners Indra Sekhar Reddy and Nicky Boje.
These two spinners put the brakes on the scoring rate. They gave away just 36 runs in six overs. Boje continued to be economical. He gave away just 20 runs in four overs and also accounted for Hasan’s wicket.
Mohammed Yousuf joined Farhat now. Both Harris and Stuart Binny were at the receiving end of Farhat’s onslaught. Off two overs, one from Harris and the other from Binny Farhat hot 22 runs. Shortly he reached a well-deserved half-century.
Now, Harris brought in Anirudh Singh, a part-time off-spinner. He got the break through dismissing Farhat. Skipper Inzamam didn’t take too long to get going. But his promising innings was nipped in the bud. The skipper made just 5. Harris rid of Inzamam when the skipper tried to pull a delivery which cut in and disturbed his woodwork.
If that wasn’t enough, Mohammad Yousuf was dismissed shortly. Yousuf was trying to steal a non-existent single but Harris thought on his feet when he threw the ball onto the stumps from close range.
Reddy that struck when he trapped Shahid Yousuf in front of stumps. In space of three overs - from 14th to 16th - Badshahs lost the initiative. But seasoned pro Azhar Mahmood in the company of wicketkeeper Khalid Mahmood led the team home.
Earlier, Abdul Razzaq kept his best for the finals and made the most of a sloppy Lahore Badshahs’ side. The mercurial all-rounder scored 69 of 45 balls with some calculated hitting. Razzaq also put on an 89-run partnership with opener Jimmy Maher, who contributed a steady 45.
