Title favourites Lahore Badshahs were pushed to the brink before they pulled off a hard fought seven run victory over Kolkata Tigers in the second semifinal of the ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge at Tau Devi Lal Stadium on Thursday.
Batting first under overcast conditions, Badshahs were pushed back by Tigers' opening bowlers, Andre Adams and Nantie Hayward before Imran Nazir cut loose. That set the foundation for a 85 run second wicket stand between Nazir and Hummayun Farhat which came off just 53 balls before the latter was dismissed by Lance Klusener. Nazir wnet for 42 and after 15 overs, the Badshahs' were 112 for 4.
However, with skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq holding one end, Badshahs showed why they are so dangerous at the end. Thanks to a quickfire 24 by Azhar Mahmood, they amassed 70 runs in the last five overs to post an imposing 182 for seven.
In reply, Tigers got off to a flier piling up 60 runs in 6 overs with openers Deep Dasgupta and Klusener flaying Badshashs' bowlers. However, they lost momentum once Deep (22) was castled by Shahid Nazir in the 7th over. More wickets fell but Klusener waged a lone battle and almost won the match for his side. The 'Man of the Match' was dismissed on the last ball of the innings after a heroic 91 (51b, 4x11, 6x3). Badshahs will now cross swords with Hyderabad Heroes in first of the best-of-three finals, to be played at the same venue on Friday.
Brief Scores:
Lahore Badshahs: 182/7 in 20 overs (Nazir 42, Humayun 39, Sagar 2/19)
Kolkata Tigers: 175/4 (Klusener 93, Gavaskar 23, Nazir 2/12).
News Source :http://www.cricket.indiatimes.com/
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