AMBATI RAYADU AND STUART BINNY OF HYDERABAD HEROES SHARE MAN OF THE MATCH TITLE
Panchkula,4Apr : A three-wicket haul by Abdul Razzaq (3 for 18) and a fine composed innings of 44 runs by Ambati Rayadu and later a guided Hyderabad Heroes to a to a close six-run win over Lahore Badshahs in the first of the best-of-three finals of the Indian Cricket League Edelweiss Challenge being played at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula on Friday. After skipper Chris Chris Harris won the toss, Hyderabad Heroes were given a fine start by openers Jimmy Maher and Abdul Razzaq. The duo added up 31 runs in the first five overs for Heroes. Razzaq first smashed Azhar Mehmood for a boundary in the second over before Maher struck a boundary off Mohammed Sami in the next over. Razzaq then came into his element as he first hoisted a towering six off Mehmood in the fourth over before Maher struck two boundaries off the bowling of Sami in the fifth over. Abdul Razzaq welcomed Rana Naved-Ul-Hasan with a towering six in the sixth over, but Rana had its revenge as Hasan Raza took a fine catch at extra cover to make it 37 for 1 in 5.2 overs for Heroes. Maher continued his dominance as he struck two consecutive boundaries in the same over before he struck Shaid Nazir for a boundary in the ninth over. Mushtaq Ahmed broke the second wicket partnership between Jimmy Maher and Amabati Rayadu when he clean bowled Jimmy Maher (33) with a quick delivery. Justine Kemp then joined Ambati Rayadu as the duo took the Heroes score to 117 for 2 in 17.3 overs. Rayadu first hit Shahid Nazir for a boundary in the 13th over before he hoisted Mehmood for a towering six in the 17th over. The duo mostly dealt in singles and occasional boundaries as they carried the Heroes’ total to 108 for 2 in 17 overs. Rayadu then smashed a six off the bowling of Naved-Ul-Hasan before Justine Kemp (11) was clean bowled by Naved-Ul-Hasan in the same over to make it 117 for 3 for Heroes in 17.5 overs. Rayadu (44) was run out in the penultimate over after a quick throw from Inzamam-Ul-Haq before Anirudh Singh struck a boundary in the same over. Stuart Binny(3) was run out in the last over as Naved-Ul-Hasan removed the bails to make it 131 for 5 in 19.2 overs for Heroes. Chris Harris struck a towering six after a no ball in the last over bowled by Naved before Harris(8) was run out by Azhar Mehmood on the last ball to make it 143 for 6 in 20 overs for Heroes. Chasing a modest target of 144 runs in the allotted 20 overs, Badshahs were given an early blow as Abdul Razzaq clean bowled Imran NAzir (5) in the third over with Badshahs’ score being 13 for 1 in 2.1 overs. Humayun Farhat then joined Taufeeq Umar as the duo took the score to 28 for 1 in 5.3 overs. Kemp picked up the wicket of Humayun Farhat (12) as he clean bowled Farhat. Hasan Raza then joined Umat but Raza too departed in the eighth over as he was trapped lbw by Stuart Binny. Skipper Inzamam-Ul-Haq then joined Umar as Haq hoisted Boje for a towering six in the ninth over. Umar then smashed Binny for a boundary in the next over before Haq (8) was caught and bowled by Stuart Binny in the same over. Umar was then joined by Naved Latiff who struck two boundaries off the bowling of Binny in the 12th over.But Harris removed Latiff(11) in the thirteenth over as he took a fine catch off his own bolwing to make it 65 for 5 for Badshahs in 12.2 overs. Azhar Mehmood then came onto the crease as he hoisted Harris for a huge six in the fifteenth over as Badshahs needed 56 runs off the last five overs. Mehmood then smashed Reddy for a four and a six in the next over before he struck two consecutive boundaries off the bowling of Absolem in the eighteenth over. Jummy Maher finally did the trick for Heroes as Mehmood(34) was run out from a fine throw from him in the eighteenth over. Badshahs needed 25 runs off the last two overs as Rana Naved-Ul-Hasan joined Taufeeq Umar. Naved then smotted a huge six and a boundary off the bowling of Boje in the penultimate over as Badshahs needed 12 runs off the last over. Razzaq bowled two wides in the last over as Badshahs needed eight runs from five balls. Rana(13) was run out with Badshahs needing 7 runs from 3 balls. Razzaq then clean bowled Mohammed Sami (0) to further dampen Badshahs’ hopes as Badshahs were 137 for 8 after 19.4 overs. Abdul razzaq then removed Shahid Nazir (0) off the last ball of the Badshahs’ innings as Heroes won by six runs.