Lahore Badshahs are ICL T20 champions by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Hyderabad Heroes v Lahore Badshahs
Player:	JP Maher, I Khaleel, Shahid Nazir, Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat
Event:	ICL 20s World Series 2008/09

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DateLine: 17th November 2008

 

Lahore Badshahs are ICL T20 champions Lahore Badshahs won the the finals of the ICL beating Hyderabad Heroes 2-1 in the best of three finals here in Ahmedabad.Lahore Badshahs are the third team to win this tournament.The first two being Chennai Superstars and Hyderabad Heroes.Hyderabad Heroes last time beat Lahore Badshahs in the finals. So it was sweet revenge for the Lahore Badshahs this time around.

The third final was a one sided affair with Lahore Badshahs beating Hyderabad Heroes by 8 wickets with 6 overs to spare. It was a splendid innings from Imran Nazir, who scored the fastest hundred in T20 history.His 44 ball unbeaten 111 with 11 sixes and 7 fours completely annihilated Hyderabad Heroes. He was in a murderous mood not sparing the quicks or the spinners.His last six was the longest going for 114 meters in this tournament.

The Lahore Badshahs were in a mood for revenge after what happened in the last match which was marred in controversy over Kemp's catch.They also had lost to this team in the previous edition. So there were a lot of scores to settle.Hyderabad Heroes won the toss and choose to bat on a wicket that was to get slow as the game progresses.But Hyderabad Heroes got of to a flier inspite of losing Jimmy Maher early.Ibrahim Khaleel scored 45 of 25 balls.But after he went Hyderabad Heroes never got the momentum they wanted and finally ended up with 158 for 7.Shahid Nazir was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets.

Lahore Badshahs successfully chased down the target with Imran Nazir going full on. It was raining fours and sixes with Imran Nazir playing like a man possessed. He and Imran Farhat put on 100 for the first wicket. He took the game completely away from them and they were left gasping at his brutal power.He singlehandedly chased down the target.Lahore Badshahs lifted him out of the ground after he finished the game with a six.

Rana Naved was declared the Man of the series for his all round performance with bat and ball.Imran Nazir won the Man of the Match. He also got the price for hitting the longest six of the tournament.All in all it was a great tournament for the Badshahs with Yousuf coming at the right time to bail them out.They started slowly but finished on a high. They were the worthy winners beating the worthy finalists Hyderabad Heroes in a thrilling finale to round up a fantastic tournament for the ICL.