ICL 20/20 [2008] - Match reports round up

[Guest Hiten.]

Rockets' opening blast wins them ICL opener Fifties from openers Wavell Hinds and Sachin Dholpure and a disciplined bowling performance, led by fresh foreign signings Jason Gillespie and Heath Streak, helped the Ahmedabad Rockets, one of two new teams, prevail over Chandigarh Lions in the opening match of the ICL's third and latest edition. The form book favoured the Lions going into the encounter - they were finalists in the ICL's Twenty20 tournament last year and were playing at home. However, that notion was quickly turned on its head once Damien Martyn, the Rockets' captain, called correctly at the toss and chose to bat. Hinds and Dholpure came out all guns blazing and the game quickly seemed to go out of the Lions' control - 76 came off the first eight overs, and a big score was on the cards with the Rockets on 122 at the 14-over mark, all ten wickets in hand. Daryl Tuffey was the first bowler to suffer - his second over went for 13 - but perhaps the decision that cost Lions the game was Chris Cairns' bold move to bring on spin in the form of Rajesh Sharma and Karanveer Singh after Tuffey and Andrew Hall finished their opening spells. The move brought plenty of hits for those watching to cheer, and with 49 runs in four overs, the Rockets had seized the momentum. However, the left-arm spin of Dinesh Mongia helped rein in the rampage. His first three overs went for just 15, and his fourth - the 15th in the innings - saw him dismiss Dholpure, who scored 54 off 43, followed by Martyn for 2, while Hinds was run out for 59, also off 43 deliveries. Four tight overs followed from the seamers, in which only 18 runs were given, and despite three fours from Heath Streak in the final over of the innings bowled by Hall, the Rockets seemed to be short of a winning total. After the break, during which Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia entertained the crowd, the Lions' new signings Lou Vincent and Matthew Elliott began the chase and though Vincent fell cheaply, his partner and No. 3 Tejinder Pal Singh kept the score ticking. While the wickets were intact, however, the asking-rate climbed and at the half-way mark, the Lions were at 68 for 1, needing another 91. Streak removed Tejinder in the 11th over, and left-armer Sridharan Sriram struck first-ball to get rid of Elliott in the next. Dinesh Mongia and Chris Cairns then kept the Lions in the hunt, but with 50 required off five, Martyn rightly gambled to bring on Gillespie for a breakthrough instead of saving his final over till later. Gillespie gave away three runs off the first four balls, and a slower delivery saw Cairns spoon the fifth to extra cover. Mongia fell to Streak in the next over, and the Lions' hopes seem all but finished, with 46 required off 22. When Streak bowled the 20th, the win was all but secure, with 33 needed. Sarabjit Singh, with nothing to lose, hit a four and six, and then tried the Misbah scoop, but the Rockets walked away with the win and Rs 25 lakh (approx $62,500) cheque, with Hinds named Man of the Match. © Cricinfo Scorecard

[Laaloo]

sachinnnnn dholpure :bhangra:

[Sachinism]

i just realised no SS for ICL

[Zakhmi]

waw! wonderful start for Rockets!!...Keep it up!!!

[chamatkar]

I like the fact that it's now been patented as the "Misbah Scoop"! Maybe it's time to convert it into a verb... to do a misbah.

[Cricketics]

I like the fact that it's now been patented as the "Misbah Scoop"! Maybe it's time to convert it into a verb... to do a misbah.

actually our very own uthappa tried that @ the oval on broad's bowling and won us the game.. should be called Uthappaz scoop

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Delhi Giants defeat Mumbai Champs The second match of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge, featured two big teams of the tournament, the Delhi Giants and Mumbai Champs. Delhi Giants won the match by 6 wickets and Abbas Ali was declared Man of the Match. Restricting the Mumbai Champs to only 115/5 in 20 overs, led by a superb bowling performance from left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza, the Giants romped home to victory led by some breathtaking batting by Abbas Ali. More... Delhi Giants defeat Mumbai Champs March 10, 2008 23:16 IST The second match of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge being played at The Tau Devi Lal stadium, Panchkula on Monday, featured two big teams of the tournament, the Delhi Giants and Mumbai Champs. Delhi Giants won the match by 6 wickets and Abbas Ali was declared Man of the Match. Restricting the Mumbai Champs to only 115/5 in 20 overs, led by a superb bowling performance from left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza, the Giants romped home to victory led by some breathtaking batting by Abbas Ali. Nathan Astle leading the side in the absence of the injured Brian Lara [images], won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch which looked dry and flat. The Champs opened the innings with the promising Dheeraj Jadhav and new recruit Sri Lankan S Jayantha. The Mumbai Champs openers got off to a cautious start especially facing one of the fastest bowlers in the world and star attraction of the Edelweiss 20s challenge, Shane Bond [images]. At the end of the first five overs the Champs were 31 for no loss. The giants bowling was disciplined, hardly giving any room to the Mumbai batsmen. Soon the Champs were left at 84/4 by the end of the 15th over with hardly any significant partnership. For the Giants Ali Murtaza and Dale Benkestein bowled some tight overs in the middle of the innings, hardly giving the Mumbai batsmen any room to play their strokes. The Mumbai Champs innings was finally restricted to 115 for 5 at the end of the 20 overs. The pick of the bowlers for the Giants was again the young left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza picking two important wickets, especially of the in-form Mumbai Champs opener D Jadhav at a crucial stage of the innings. In reply the Giants lost early wickets with both Monish Sharma and captain Marvan Atapattu back in the dug, out by the 3rd over, reducing the Gaints to 11/2. This brought the superb Abbas Ali to the wicket, who got into the act right away taking 16 runs of a Tino Best over. Gunawardane soon got into the act and he along with Abbas Ali were displaying a wide array of strokes. Astle turned to the spin of Avinash Yadhav who responded splendidly with a first-ball wicket, castling the dangerous Avishka Gunwardene for 17. Kasprowicz soon got into the act getting the wicket of A Bali, reducing the Giants to 55/4. By the 10th over the Giants score read 58/4 leaving the match delicately poised. But Abbas Ali was rock solid and along with Nic Pothas, added a superb partnership of 61 runs to take the Giants home in the 19th over. Brief scores: Mumbai Champs 115 for 5 (Nathan Astle 32, D Jadhav 27, Ali Murtaza 2/16) lost by six wickets to Delhi Giants (Abbas Ali 64, Nic Pothas 18, Van Der Wath 1/17)

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Inzamam stars as Lahore Badshahs defeat Chennai Superstars At the age of 38, Inzamam showed that experience matters as his knock was studded with five boundaries and a six, reports Vinod Kumar. More... Inzamam stars as Lahore Badshahs defeat Chennai Superstars Vinod Kumar, Hindustan Times Panchkula, March 11, 2008 First Published: 22:40 IST(11/3/2008) Last Updated: 22:43 IST(11/3/2008) Skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq struck an unbeaten half-century to guide Lahore Badshahs to a five-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Superstars in the second edition of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tournament here tonight. Needing 158 to win, Badshahs, comprising former Pakistan international cricketers, made it look easy in the end achieving the target with an over to spare, mainly due to the heroic innings played by their skipper, who stood there till the winning runs were scored. At the age of 38, Inzamam showed that experience matters as his knock was studded with five boundaries and a six. However, at one stage, the Badshahs had lost four wickets with just 47 runs on the board, the wrecker-in-chief being T Kumaran, who took three wickets. Inzamam was given full support by Naved Latif, who scored a quickfire 41 (of 26 balls). Earlier, electing to bat first, Superstars opener and former Australian batsman Michael Bevan struck a brilliant 56 of 53 balls. His knock was studded with six hits to the fence. Hemang Badani gave him good support at the other end, scoring a useful 30. However, Superstars skipper R Sathish could not do much with the bat and got out after making just seven. Down the order, SV Sarayanan (14) and Syed Mohammed (15) helped their team put up a fighting total. Saqlain Mushtaq and Naved-u-Hasan were the most successful bowlers for the Badshahs claiming two wickets each.

[Predator_05]

I see Shaabbeer Ahmed conceded 41 off his 4 overs. How decent of him to help his paki mates secure their first ICL win.

[guju24]

it was a good game...inzii was just too good...

[Chandan]

Fielding of Chennai Superstars was extremely bad. First Parore missed Inzi's stumping when the batsman's score was in single digits. Wonder who missed the skied dolly at mid-on when Latif had hit straight up in the air, then they missed a fairly easy run-out chance when both the batsmen were at one end, Badani misjudged a shot and it went to boundary or else it;d have been a tight single. Also getting Shabbir for second last over was a terrible captaincy from the skipper of CSS. They deserved to lose after all this.

[theguyinallblue]

i can't believe it yet...that i watched this game... it seems i need to invent something to do...else i would end up watching La-hore matches..:D

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Badshahs give ICL something to 'jeer' about By bringing a Pakistan team-- Lahore Badshahs-- the ICL has assured the crowd would have someone to boo. More... Badshahs give ICL something to 'jeer' about Rahul Bhatia in Panchkula March 12, 2008 12:32 IST A strange thing happened yesterday. The stands were fuller than before. The crowd was noisier. Why, after two days of cricket bereft of any emotional attachment-- or 'emotional connect', as the organizers would probably call it-- was there life in the stands? It's because the people behind it, having done their research after the December series, went back to basics and came up with the answer to their problems: the Lahore Badshahs. If Pakistan couldn't be got, the Badshahs would be Pakistan. It was a gimmick if there ever was one. And how the crowd responded! These are confusing times for the cricket fan. He doesn't really know who to root for. All sorts of teams vie for brand loyalty. And so, the organizers figured, if you don't know who to cheer, we'll give you somebody to boo. An administrative officer sidled up after a Lahore [images] bowler was hit for four, and said, "This is what they hoped for. Parochialism. They wanted to get a Pakistan team for this reaction only." Below, the crowd clapped and hooted. Perhaps they will point to greater television ratings or a larger crowd than there has been so far. But the Lahore team's induction is like a band aid for a headache. The crowd was almost united in its feelings for the Badshahs (do note that the crowd feels this strongly for no other team in this league). This has not gone unnoticed. Now the league's organizers casually discuss the possibility of acquiring players and dividing them along national lines - Colombo, Melbourne, etc. That if the lines that separate us and them are clear once again, the league will grow. This thinking is a step back from what the league set out to do, and it tones down their objective. If we've got this right, they want to set up entire national teams, and pay them too? And they still insist that the ICC [images] and BCCI have no reason to be bothered? If all this seems arbitrary, it probably is. Insiders admit they don't always understand how the organization functions. "Right or wrong," one administrator said in response to a question about the league's announcement when nothing had been finalized, "that's the way the board functions."

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Kolkata Tigers clinch thriller against Champs The fourth match of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge featured the Mumbai Champs taking on the spirited Kolkata Tigers from the city of joy. The Tigers won the thriller by 2 runs handing the Mumbai Champs their second straight defeat. Andre Adams was declared Man of the Match for his allround performance. More... Kolkata Tigers clinch thriller against Champs March 13, 2008 00:10 IST The Kolkata Tigers won a thriller by 2 runs handing Mumbai Champs their second straight defeat in the Edelweiss 20s Challenge at Tau Devi Lal Stadium Sector-3, Panchkula on Wednesday. Andre Adams was declared Man of the Match for his allround performance. The pitch report had the experts declare the pitch as dry with low bounce. Craig Mcmillan [images], the Tigers captain, won the toss and elected to bat. The Tigers opened the innings with Subhomoy Das and Lance Klusener. Das got into the act right away sending the ball to the ropes twice in the first over of Van der Wath. Tino Best got the first break with a fast delivery castling Klusener in the 4th over for 9. At the end of the fifth over the Tigers were placed at 35 /1. Astle brought on medium pacer Khird in the 7th over and he responded with a wicket on the very first ball that he bowled, getting Das for 21. Kasprowicz who was hit for a couple of boundaries in his previous over got right back into the game clean bowling the dangerous Tigers captain McMillan in the 10th over. By the end of the 10th over the match turned into a keen contest between the bat and the ball, with the Tigers placed at 67/3. The promising Jhunjhunwala was looking good in the company of experienced Rohan Gavaskar, till a rush of blood saw him getting out to a smart piece of stumping by Paul off the impressive bowling of Khirid in the 14th over. At the end of the 15th over the Tigers were placed at 102/4. Gavaskar was the mainstay of the Tigers batting, but the boundaries were hard to come by. The hard hitting Andre Adams came to the party clubbing two big sixes of the final Best over. The Tigers innings finally folded at 146/5 in 20 overs. The Mumbai Champs reply started on a shaky note with opener Jayanta being castled by Adams in the first over. The newly promoted opener S Paul along with Raviraj Patil was in a positive mood displaying an array of strokes taking the score to 34/1 at the end of the 4th over. Patil especially was in an aggressive mood showing scant respect for the reputed opposition bowlers, stroking some audacious strokes all across the park. The courageous partnership came to an end when the Tigers captain got the dangerous Patil out for a well made 52 in the 10th over. At the 11th over the Champs were well placed at 87/2 with captain Nathan Astle and Paul battling it out for the Champs. Some tight overs in the middle of the innings from experienced Klusener and McMillan brought the Tigers back into the game. At the end of the 15th over the Champs were placed at 102/3, needing 45 off the last 5 overs at 9 runs per over. Astle played some big shots but a rash stroke brought an end to his promising innings of 30, which changed the fortunes for Champs. A mini collapse with quick wickets of Van der Wath, Powar and Khanolkar reduced the Champs to 130/6 in the 17th over, taking the match right down to the wire. The Champs needed 9 runs off the last over from the quick Hayward. It proved too big a task for the lower order batsmen and finally the Champs fell short of the target by 2 runs.

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Lahore Badshahs trounce Hyderabad Heroes A devastating bowling spell by Azhar Mehmood (5-13) helped Lahore Badshahs trounce Hyderabad Heroes by nine wickets in the fifth match of the ICL's Twenty20 tournament in Panchkula on Thursday night. More... Lahore Badshahs trounce Hyderabad Heroes March 13, 2008 22:56 IST A devastating bowling spell by Azhar Mehmood (5-13) helped Lahore [images] Badshahs trounce Hyderabad Heroes by nine wickets in the fifth match of the ICL's Twenty20 tournament in Panchkula on Thursday night. Electing to bat first, Heroes' only face-saving innings was played by Nicke Boje (39), while his team's eight other batsmen failed to reach double figures. Naved-ul-Hassan and Mohammed Sami took two wickets apiece to inflict further damage on the Heroes, who were all out for 86 in the 19th over, with their skipper Chris Harris failing to open the account. In reply, the Badshahs, led by former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq [images], reached the target with more than 10 overs to spare, earning their second straight win in the tournament. Imran Nazir [images] made the small run chase look so easy and scored 62 in just 32 balls. His knock was studded with three sixes and eight boundaries. Mehmood and Nazir shared the player of the match award.

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TP Singh's all-round show hands Lions win Chandigarh Lions posted an easy 34-run win on the back of TP Singh brisk 38 and two wickets in an over which snuffed out the Delhi Giants' challenge in Panchkula. More... Chandigarh Lions v Delhi Giants, 6th match, ICL TP Singh's all-round show hands Lions win Cricinfo staff March 15, 2008 Chandigarh Lions 153 for 6 (TP Singh 38, Elliot 35, Benkenstein 2-42) beat Delhi Giants 119 (Bali 31, Tuffey 3-15, TP Singh 2-8) TP Singh made 38 and took two wickets as the Lions won by 34 runs (file photo) © Cricinfo Ltd Chandigarh Lions posted an easy 34-run win on the back of Tejinder Pal Singh's brisk 38 and two wickets in an over which snuffed out Delhi Giants' challenge in Panchkula. After opting to bat, the Lions made a competitive 153 with solid contributions from their top order. Lou Vincent and Matthew Elliot gave them a breezy start, scoring 44 before Vincent was bowled by former South African batsman Dale Benkenstein. TP Singh and Elliot then shared another 44-run stand to keep the run-rate up but the Giants hit back with three quick wickets. Sixteen runs came off one Benkenstein over as Chetan Sharma lashed a 9-ball 21 to boost the Lions' total. For the Giants, Shane Bond bowled a tidy spell, keeping it tight in the beginning and getting TP Singh bowled in his second spell. The chase began in earnest, as 12 runs came off the first over, sent down by Lions' captain Andrew Hall who had a poor day - going wicketless and conceding nearly 10 an over. Daryl Tuffey, though, was spot on and accounted for both openers as only eight runs were scored in the next three overs. Giants couldn't recover from the poor start and the only batsmen to make significant contributions were Marvan Atapattu (29) and Abhinav Bali (31). With the required rate already at a challenging 13 an over, TP Singh came on and removed Benkenstein and JP Yadav in the space of four balls to end Giants' hopes. The result means both teams now have one win and one loss after their first two encounters.

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Boje and Kemp power Heroes to victory Hyderabad Heroes were powered to a seven-wicket victory over the Chennai Superstars by half-centuries from their South African recruits Nicky Boje and Justin Kemp. More... Heroes v Superstars, 7th match, ICL Boje and Kemp power Heroes to victory Cricinfo staff March 15, 2008 Hyderabad Heroes 156 for 3 (Kemp 66*, Boje 61*) beat Chennai Superstars 152 for 7 (Harvey 49, Badani 33) by seven wickets Justin Kemp blasted 66 off 42, including four huge sixes (file photo) © Getty Images Hyderabad Heroes were powered to a seven-wicket victory over the Chennai Superstars by their South African recruits Nicky Boje (61*) and Justin Kemp (66*). In the first match of the ICL to be held in Hyderabad, the Heroes went against the trend in this edition of the tournament at the toss and instead chose to field. Their decision seemed to have backfired as Ian Harvey and G Vignesh gave the Superstars a breezy start with 41 coming off the first six overs. Boje was then introduced into the attack and he struck immediately, dismissing Vignesh for 19, and sent down a miserly three-over spell, giving away only seven runs. Harvey, though, continued to plunder runs off the other bowlers before being trapped lbw by left-arm spinner IS Reddy for a 36-ball 49. Hemang Badani then carted three sixes and two boundaries in an express 33 to lift the Superstars to a respectable 152. The Heroes' reply got off to a dreadful start as Jimmy Maher and Anirudh Singh were both dismissed in the first over. The runs didn't flow until Thiru Kumaran's first over; 17 runs came off it. Boje then picked off three consecutive boundaries off Harvey as he and Ambati Rayudu put on 50 runs in quick time. Rayudu's dismissal left the Heroes at a shaky 53 for 3 and brought Kemp to the crease. By the end of the 12th over, the asking-rate had climbed to 9 before Kemp showcased his ability to muscle the ball out of the park. Four sixes and six fours flowed off his bat as he clobbered his way to the tournament's highest score. Boje also completed a superb half-century as the two put on 103 to take the Heroes to victory. The result leaves the Superstars at the bottom of the table having lost both their matches while the Heroes now have one win and one loss so far.

[Desi Cartman]

I have never seen a single game of ICL. I don’t even read much about it including results but guess what I am # 1 ranked in SS …

[Indus_Army]

ICL Match thread: Rockets Vs Heroes + Champs Vs Badshahs Hey ICF'ers, Anyone watching the ongoing ICL games? Heroes have put up an excellent total. I thought Jimmy Maher was playing well, until Rayudu came along. That was some hitting by the 22 yr old Rayudu...just makes me wonder if he might have been a Team India candidate in the mid-term. W.Hinds is the key now for the Rockets to be even competitive. It looks like another game in the bag for the Heroes.

[Rajiv]

:(