Inzamam, Razzaq lead Hyderabad Heroes to victory in ICL

Panchkula, Dec 9 (UNI) An unbeaten 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket between captain Inzamam ul Haq (44, 27 balls, 4x4s, 2x6s) and Abdul Razzaq (40, 20 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s) helped Hyderabad Heroes check the winning streak of Chennai Superstars, handing them a seven-wicket thrashing in the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 Championship at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex here today.

Chennai Superstars suffered their first defeat in the championship.

Chasing 163 runs for victory, Hyderabad Heroes achieved the target in 17.5 overs. Former Pakistan captain Inzmam ul Haq was declared Man of the Match.

Batting first Chennai Superstars posted 162 runs for 4. Opener Ivan Harvey, (63 not out), Stuart Law (44) and Hemang Badani (31 not out) played brilliant knocks. Harvey was associated in two good partnerships. First with Stuart Law, realising 85 runs for the third wicket. Law was bowled by Kaushik Reddy for 44, which he compiled in 36 balls and hit six fours.

Later Harvey and Hemang Badani flayed the Superstars' bowlers as they put on an unbeaten 52 for the fourth wicket. Harvey remained not out on 63. He faced 55 balls, hit six fours and two sixes.

Badani's hurricane undefeated knock of 31 came of just 13 balls and he hit one four and three sixes.

Chasing the victory target, Hyderabad Heroes opened their innings through Shashank Nag(13) and Anirudh Singh (31, 5x4s). Ambati Rayadu countributed 28 runs.

The fourth unbroken wicket partnership of 79 runs between Inzamam ul Haq and Abdul Razzaq tilted the balance in favour of Hyderabad Heroes. After 17 overs, Hyderabad needed 14 runs to win in 18 balls with seven wickets in hand. Razzaq hit two sixes to wrap up the match.

Hyderabad Heroes: Shashank Nag c V Devendran b Ian Harvey 13 Anirudh Singh c V Devendran b S Ahmed 31 Ambati Rayudu c S Law b V Saravanan 28 Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 44 Abdul Razzaq not out 40 Extras (lb 4, w 4, nb 1) 9.

Total (for three wickets in 17.5 overs).

Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-50, 3-86.

Bowling: Ian Harvey 3.5-0-38-1 Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-27-1-0 Tamil Kumaran 3-0-15-0-0 T. Kumaran 2-0-22-0-0 Vasanth Saravanan 3-0-29-1 Rajagopal Sathish 2-0-30-0 Chennai Superstars: Ian Harvey not out 63 V Devendran c S Nag b A Mahmood 10 Chris Read run out (A Singh) 2 Stuart Law b K Reddy 44 Russel Arnold run out (A Rayudu) 0 Hemang Badani not out 31 6 Extras (lb 7, w 5) 12.

Total (for four wickets in 20 overs) 162.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-25, 3-110.

Bowling: Abdul Razzaq 4-0-37-0 Azhar Mahmood 4-0-24-1 Kaushik Reddy 4-0-27-1 Chris Harris 3-0-23-0 Inder Shekhar Reddy 4-0-32-0 Nicky Boje 1-0-12-0.

UNI