Lahore Lions finished at a score of 151 for the loss of 7 wickets at the end of their quota of 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the seventh match of the group stage of the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) 2014 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. Ahmed Shehzad top-scored for Lahore with a gritty 59 from 42 balls, while Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers with a haul of three wickets for 9 runs.
The innings began on a strong note for the Lahore Lions as Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed put on a fifty-run opening stand in less than seven overs as the KKR bowlers Pat Cummins and Andre Russell were smashed all over the park. It was mostly a Shehzad-show who kept the fours and sixes going. Lahore experienced their first jolt when Jamshed was run-out courtesy a brilliant direct hit from Russell.
Skipper Mohammad Hafeez did not last long either as he top-edged a well-flighted delivery from Kuldeep Yadav to give the latter his maiden wicket for KKR. While Shehzad kept the runs flowing for some more time, his dismissal was a major blow for Lahore as he holed a catch to Robin Uthappa at long-on off the bowling of Piyush Chawla.
Shehzad’s dismissal began a sudden flurry of dismissals as the Lahore Lions were reduced from 91 for two to 103 for six. At this point, Narine nearly became the first bowler in the ongoing tournament and the second overall in the CLT20 history to take a hattrick.
Narine eventually finished with remarkable figures of 4-1-9-3 and played a major role in restricting the Lahore run-fest. It was Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz‘s late charge that took them past the 150-run mark. The last over by Pat Cummins cost KKR 16 runs courtesy two fours and a six, though Cummins managed to dismiss Akmal off the last ball. The latter scored a valuable 40 from 24 balls in a knock that contained three fours and a six.
KKR head into the second game of the ongoing tournament after registering a memorable win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first after the end of the qualifying round, the Lahore Lions will look to begin the group stage on a good note after a spirited performance in the qualifiers.
Lahore, on the other hand, have put up an impressive display in the tournament so far. Having won this year’s edition of the Haier T20 Cup, the Lahoris managed to stun everyone by beating tournament favourites Mumbai Indians by a margin of six wickets.
Brief scores:
Lahore Lions 151 for 7 in 20 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 59, Umar Akmal 40; Sunil Narine 3 for 9) vs Kolkata Knight Riders.
(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, traveling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle@akb287)
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