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Hyderabad Heroes draws first blood

Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: Bowling the final over, Abdul Razzaq held his nerve to unsettle his former Pakistan teammates and script a sensational six-run victory for Hyderabad Heroes over Lahore Badshahs in the first match of the best-of-three final of the Indian Cricket League’s Edelweiss 20s Challenge at Panchkula on Friday.

Needing 12 runs to overhaul Heroes’s 143 for six in 20 overs, Badshahs appeared to be inching towards victory with Razzaq bowling three wide deliveries for four runs.

With seven needed from four deliveries, Naved-ul-Hasan was run out at the striker’s end in his bid to steal a bye. Razzaq then dismissed Mohammad Sami. Shahid Nazir missed the next ball before Razzaq bowled him to complete Heroes’s triumph, leaving opener Taufeeq Umar unbeaten on 43.

This was Badshahs’s first defeat after eight straight victories. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s men will be looking for revenge in the second final at Hyderabad.

Much before the tense finish, Stuart Binny had turned the tide by sending back Hasan Raza and Inzamam to raise visions of a probable victory.

Chris Harris accounted for Naved Latif to make it 65 for five in the 13th over and then it was up to opener Taufeeq Umar (43 n.o., 3x4) and Azhar Mahmood (34, 20b, 2x6, 3x4) to resurrect Badshahs’s fortune.

Cautious approach

Earlier, Heroes treaded cautiously for the better part of its innings. Razzaq was quickly off the blocks before fellow opener Jimmy Maher nearly maintained a run-a-ball strike-rate.

Razzaq hit a six each off Mahmood and Naved before falling for a 12-ball 21. Maher, who hit six boundaries in his 33, too, departed when threatening to tear apart the attack. Thereafter, A. Rayudu and Justin Kemp batted from the 10th to the 18th over to add 53 runs.

The scores: Hyderabad Heroes 143 for six in 20 overs (A. Rayudu 44, Jimmy Maher 33, Abdul Razzaq 21, Naved-ul-Hasan two for 47) bt Lahore Badshahs 137 for nine in 20 overs (Taufeeq Umar 43 n.o., Azhar Mahmood 34, Abdul Razzaq three for 18, Stuart Binny two for 19).

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