Hyderabad, October 12, 2008: The 4th match part of the weekend double bonanza from the ICL stable, featured the revamped Royal Bengal Tigers take on the might of the formidable Lahore Badshahs at the LB stadium Hyderabad.
Pat Symcox in his pitch report predicted a sporting track conducive to stroke play along with some fair assistance for both pacers as well as spinners. Inzamam won the toss and elected to bat.
The Badshahs opened with their formidable combination of the two Imrans’, Farhat & Nazir who got off to a steady start; placed at 22 for no loss at the end of the first three overs. Some tight bowling, assisted by some sharp bowling resulted in a mix-up in the middle, resulting in Nazir falling short of his crease to give the Tigers the first breakthrough in the 5th over at the Badshahs score of 28.
Marshaled by the combative McMillan, the Tigers in their new smart outfit were lighting up the field with some tight bowling and sharp fielding keeping a tight leash on the Badshahs at 44/1 at the end of the 8th over.
The 11th over saw a bowing change in the form of the experienced leggie Upul Chandana, who got the second breakthrough packing back debutant Mughal cheaply for eight. This set the stage for skipper Inzamam, looking in a dangerous mood scoring nineteen off just eleven balls before the wily old fox Chandana struck a blow, getting him to nick one to Deep Dasgupta who took a sharp catch to see the back of the great man in the crucial 14th phase.
Chandana was working up a great spell sending back Farhat & Azhar Mahmood in quick succession to end with brilliant figures of 4/21 in his allotted four overs. The spirited Tigers were all over the field not allowing any space to the formidable Badshahs batting. McMillan also showcased his sides bowling prowess using six frontline bowlers; restricting the mighty Badshahs to a partly 139/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Brief Scores: Lahore Badshahs 139/6 in 20 overs (Farhat 37 Yousuf 32, Chandana 4/21)