Cricket

ICL 2nd Final: Hyderabad Heroes beat Lahore Badshahs

Jimmy Maher blasted a swashbuckling 31-ball 56 as Hyderabad Heroes piped Lahore Badshahs by eight runs to win a thrilling second final of the ICL 20-20 championship played at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stadium on Saturday.

After setting a modest target of 159 to win, Hyderabad bowlers rose to the occasion and bundled out Badshahs for 150 in 19.1 overs in an edge-of-the-seat contest to avenge their first final loss and keep alive their chances of winning the title.

Chasing 159 to win, Badshahs made a tottering start and could never really recover with only Shahid Yousuf standing amid the ruins with a belligerent 51 off 27 balls, slamming six fours and three shots over the rope. But with the asking rate climbing up, the Badshahs kept losing wickets and eventually the match slipped out of their hands.

Opener Imran Nazir (7) and Imran Farhat (6) failed to live up to their reputation of giving an explosive start as pacer Abdul Razzaq picked up two wickets in his second over. However, Shahid Yousuf scored 51 off 27 balls including six fours and two sixes to bring up the fifty in the seventh over but Farhat failed to repeat his performance in the last game and perished two balls later, courtesy a clever piece of stumping by Ibrahim Khaleel off a Nicky Boje delivery.

Newly-inducted Mohammad Yousuf (8). He was caught by Ambati Rayudu at mid-wicket while trying to play a lofty shot off Chris Harris in the 10 over. Shahid Yousuf was caught early by keeper Ibrahim Khaleel off skipper Harris. Inzamam-ul-Haq (10), Azar Mohammad (14) and Khalid Mohammad (3) also had a short stay in the middle, while Mohammad Sami (18) was sent packing by a stunning catch from Justin Kemp at the boundary line.

Tags: Hyderabad Heroes, ICL, Lahore Badshahs