Hyderabad Heroes defeated Lahore Badshahs in a heart-stopping bowl-out in the second final to win the ICL Twenty20 tournament at Hyderabad on Sunday (April, 6) night. Hyderabad heroes overcame the strong Lahore Badshahs 3-0 in the bowl out after the match ended in a breathtaking tie.

 

Heroes had beaten Badshahs in the first final on Friday to take a lead of 1-0 in the best of three-finals. Electing to bat, Lahore Badshahs managed to set a fighting total of 130 for nine but failed to win the tie despite brilliant effort by its fast bowlers.

 

The match went into bowl out after the Hyderabad heroes equaled the score. In the bowl out, Rana Naved, Shahid Nazir and Naveed Latif missed the first three hits for Badshahs while the Hyderabad Heroes were right on target thrice in their four chances. Nicky Boje, Inder Shekar Reddy and Chris Harris hit the stumps to seal the title for the Heroes.

 

Rana Navel Ul Hasan bowled a fiery spell and claimed five wickets for just 22 runs but faltered in the final over as bowling two no-balls and a wide to help Hyderabad Heroes level the scores, leading to bowl-out. Ambati Rayudu (46) was the top scorer for the Heroes.

 

Earlier, the strong and formidable Lahore Badshahs were restricted to a moderate total as the Hyderabad Heroes bowlers, led by Inder Shekar Reddy and Stuart Binny, put a spirited bowling performance. Reddy sent four batsmen to pavilion while Binny, wove magic with his spin to claim three batsmen.

 

The Lahore Badshahs started on a cautious note as Imran Nazir (30) and Taufeeq Umar (13) added 34 runs for the opening wicket but Badshahs never really looked to settle down after the opening pair departed to pavilion. They kept loosing wickets at regular intervals, which did not give them any chance to accelerate during the last few overs. The only exception to the Badshahs middle order batting was Imran Farhat who made a spirited 30 before getting out to a beautiful stump work by Ibrahim Khaleel off Binny.