A dazzling half-century by Hasan Raza(98 n o) guided Lahore Badshahs to a emphatic 50-run over Mumbai Champs in the fifteenth match of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 Championship being played at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula on Friday.After Mumbai Champs’ skipper Nathan Astle won the toss and elected to field first, Lahore Badshahs lost their first wicket in the form of opener Imaran Nazir (10) who was clean bowled by J Van Der Wath in the third over of the Badshahs’ innings. Next batsman Humayun Farhat (1) too departed in the next over when he was trapped lbw by Tino best with a straight delivery with Badshahs’ scorecard being 28 for 2 in 3.5 overs. Imran Farhat was then joined by Hasan Raza on the crease and the duo took no time to settle. Farhat straightaway shifted into top gear as he first smashed van Der Wath for a boundary in the fifth over and then smotted the South African for a towering six in the same over. It was the turn of Hasan Raza to get into his stride in the next over as he first hit Tino Best for a huge six to take the Badshahs’ score get past 50 in 5.2 overs and then smashed two consecutive boundaries in the same over. The duo took the score to 82 before Imran Farhat was snapped up by Khirid after playing a quick fire innings of 40 runs off 25 balls. Badshahs’ scorecard at that time read 82 for 3
in 8.1 overs. Hasan raza was then joined in by skipper Inzamam-Ul-Haq as Raza continued his fine form. He raced to 45 in 20 balls before Badshahs’ lost their fourth wicket in the form of Haq(10) who fell to Khirid as Khanolkar took a fine catch at long on in the 12th over. But raza continued his dominance over Champs’ bowlers as he completed his fifty by hitting a towering six off the bowling of Yadav in the 13th over. Naved Latif and Raza took the score to 146 before Naved Latif (14) was picked up by Yadav in the 17th over. Hasan raza looked determined to score the first hundred in the history of the championship as he smashed Kasprowicz for a boundary and six in the next over to advance into nineties. But Raza(98 n o) missed the opportunity in the last two overs as Mehmood took most of the strike with Pakistan ending their innings at 187 for 5 in 20 overs.
Chasing a stiff target of 188 in 20 overs, Champs were off to a bad start. Rana Naved Ul Hasan struck on the very first ball of his first over as he picked up the wicket of Robbin Morris (1) who gave a simple catch to Imran Farhat at mid on. Champs were dealt a second blow in the same over as skipper Nathan Astle (10) fell lbw to a straight delivery by Hasan. Khanolkar then joined R Patil but Patil(13) too could not last long as Azhar Mehmood took a stunning catch at first slip off the bowling of Shaid Nazir in the sixth over with Champs score being 30 for 3. Khanolkar and Kiran Powar were then associated in a 45-run partnership for the fourth wicket but Mushtaq Ahmed pegged Champs’ hopes of a revival down by picking up the wicket of Powar (23) in the 11th over. Khanolkar (28) too departed in the next over as he was clean bowled by Mohammed Sami with a good length delivery. Mushtaq Ahmed struck again in his next over as he removed S Paul (0) with a fine delivery that took the middle stump of Paul to make it 79 for 6 in 12.4 overs with Champs still needing 108 runs in 42 balls. Van Der Wath and RD Khirid kept dealing in singles and with Champs needing 72 off the last four overs; it needed only a superb effort from either of
them. But a tight line by Badshahs’ bowlers’ meant that Champs’finished their innings at 137 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Van Der Wath contributed 33 run while Khirid remained unbeaten on 20.